Like applying for a job, you may need letters of recommendation when applying to college. So who should you ask? What should they cover? What else do you need to do? Read on for some recommendations!
Getting Started
Every college has a different policy for recommendation letters, spelled out in their application. The application usually includes forms for the letters as well as pre-addressed envelopes. If you submit an application online, print out the recommendation forms and give them to your recommenders along with stamped envelopes addressed to the admissions office.
What Is Their Purpose?
Letters of recommendation give colleges a trusted second opinion on how you have succeeded in high school and how you stood out. For example, a Yale recommendation form asks your counselor to rank you from average to outstanding on everything from your sense of humor to your academic self-discipline. This system, which is common in many applications, usually includes a space for a teacher or counselor to say in their own words what makes you a good candidate.
Whom Do You Ask?
Colleges normally give you specific directions about the people who should complete these forms. These normally include your principal, your high school counselor, and/or teachers. While you have only one principal and most likely one counselor, you do have a choice of which teachers you ask for recommendations. Pick teachers from different disciplines, such as English and science. Ask teachers who know you well, who have taught you recently, either in your junior year or in the first half of your senior year. Picking a teacher simply because they are your favorite isn't necessarily a good idea. Pick teachers who write well and who have made thoughtful comments on your work. While this may be obvious, you need to pick teachers who like you and who have shown appreciation for your work. These recommendations are supposed to help and not hurt your admission chances.
Things You Can Do to Help
You can help expedite the process:
- Before you hand out the recommendation forms, don't be afraid to ask your teachers if they will indeed give you a good recommendation. It is your right to know whether they will be helping your case or hurting it. If they say that they honestly cannot praise you, thank them for their honesty and ask another teacher.
- Supply your teachers and counselor with a copy of your transcript (which you can request from your counselor's office) and a brief statement that lists your achievements, your interests, and your goals.
- If pre-addressed envelopes are not included with the application, provide your own stamped envelopes addressed to the college admissions offices.
- Give these materials to your teachers and counselor about a month before the deadline. They will be doing this for many students, and you don't want them to be pressured by deadlines.
- Check back in with your recommenders every couple of weeks to see if they have completed the letters or if they need any more info from you, and be sure to thank them every chance you get.
Should You Submit More Than the Required Recommendations?
Admission counselors have plenty of material already, given all the parts of your application. Supplying them with yet another piece of paper will probably do you little good, unless it is from a person who has a unique insight into your abilities that your other recommenders don't have. However, extra recommendations typically are frowned upon. If you're not sure, contact the admissions office. It won't hurt to ask.
Wrapping Up
While you may have little to do with writing or sending your recommendation letters, it is your responsibility to manage the process. Give your recommenders plenty of time, thank them profusely, and check with the college to be sure they were received.
