Rec letters Answered
I'm a junior and wondering which teachers I should ask for rec letters? Should I ask the teachers closely related to what I want major in for college? Should I also ask my counselor for one too? Also, I should note that I have a great relationship with all my teachers and counselor so Ik that none would mind if I asked them
Earn karma by helping others:
3 answers
Unless a college specifies who your recommendation letters must come from, you can ask any teacher, admin or support staff at your school. The point of the recommendation is to help the admissions officer with factual first hand knowledge of your personal character and outstanding attributes that sets you apart from peers in the same class. The A.O. want to learn new information that segues into their informed impressions of you a student, member of your community, athlete, musician, artist, dancer, activist etc.
It's not necessary to have your recommender perfectly align with your intended major because lets face it more than 50% of incoming freshmen don't know for sure what they are going to major in or will change their mind by graduation. It's better to have someone write a letter who knows you best and can advocate for you. If you are Math Major and got an A in AP Calc B/C, unless you are #1 or #2 in your class, there is no point in asking them to write you a recommendation. Why? Because most likely 50% of your class got As as well and also got a 4 or 5 on their AP test. I think close to 40% of AP Calc B/C test takers get a 5 on the AP exam. If your AP Calc B/C teachers has to write 30 recommendations, do you think your individual contribution is so noteworthy above and beyond the other 29 letters they have to write? Hardly right? More likely, they will use some sort of form recommendation with some differentiating sentences so the A.O. won't be reading the exact same recommendation if 15 people from AP Calc B/C apply to Rice or Carnegie Mellon.
Most top colleges will require a HS counselor to write the 3rd recommendation. Some colleges have a 4th recommendation which is a peer recommendation. Dartmouth has this policy.
Good luck.
If I am being honest, I would ask a variety of teachers. Don't just ask the ones related to your major. For example, a college will see a recommendation by a science teacher for a kid applying to enter a science major 100 times over. What would stand out more would be to ask a teacher you have a close connection with who doesn't teach that field but is still knowledgeable enough to write about all the things they know you will achieve if you are selected. This helps you to stand out as a candidate and as a person. Use a teacher that is somehow related to your hopeful field of work though. For example, if you want to be a business major working in a large, public company, maybe have a theatre or public speaking teacher write your recommendation to show how you could succeed when placed in a room full of people and are expected to speak.
You can ask any teacher you have good standing with for a rec letter, but it looks better when that teacher is related to your major! Gives colleges confidence that you've got a good chance at succeeding! Keep in mind that some colleges require more than one teacher recommendation.
I don't know how valuable counselor recommendations are, but I do know that some colleges require them! So make sure to check if a college you're planning on applying to asks for a counselor recommendation.
Your chance of acceptance
Your chancing factors
Community Guidelines
To keep this community safe and supportive:
- Be kind and respectful!
- Keep posts relevant to college admissions and high school.
- Don’t ask “chance-me” questions. Use CollegeVine’s chancing instead!
Thx you so much for this answer