Hey all! I'm prepping to ask some teachers for letters of recommendation. To make it easier for them, I want to provide a template or format. Does anyone know what a proper format for a student letter of recommendation is like? Any tips/details that I should ensure they include?
Responding as a high school counselor
Hello! It's smart to prepare ahead and help make the process easier for your recommenders. Here's a basic structure a letter of recommendation might follow:
1. Introduction: This is where your teacher introduces themselves and their relationship with you. They might describe how long they've known you and in what capacity, such as being your 11th-grade English teacher.
2. Qualifications: Here, the teacher outlines your skills, qualifications, and achievements. They should provide concrete examples to support these claims. This is the main body of the recommendation and should contain specific instances that demonstrate your qualities that pertain to the institution (such as leadership skills or dedication to a particular field of study).
3. Comparisons: In this section, the recommender might compare you to other students they've taught, if they've taught for long enough and if the comparison is favorable. For example, "Top 5% of students I've taught in my 20-year career".
4. Concluding Statement: The recommendation should conclude with a clear endorsement for your application, stating why the teacher believes the college should admit you.
5. Closing: Finally, a properly formatted recommendation letter ends with the teacher's contact information (email or phone number) in case the admission committee wants to further discuss your candidacy.
Tell your teachers to avoid discussing aspects that your transcript or other parts of your application already highlight. In a recommendation, you want to show qualities of yourself that the admissions committee won’t get to see besides in this letter, like how you interact in the classroom or how you tackle challenges.
Also, encourage your teachers to tell memorable, detailed stories about you. A story stays with the reader more than just qualitative descriptions. And lastly, remind them to keep the tone warm and professional.
Hope this helps, and good luck with your college applications!
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