Guide 10 of 12 · Application · 5 min read
The Recommendation Letter Guide
A recommendation letter is the only part of your application written by someone else. Used well it corroborates everything you claimed. Used badly it is three paragraphs of "a pleasure to have in class."
Pick the teacher who saw you struggle
Students pick the class they got an A in. Admissions readers would rather hear from the teacher who watched you fail something and come back. The best letters describe change, not grades.
- Choose junior-year core-subject teachers who know you as a person.
- One teacher in your intended field, one outside it, is a strong pairing.
- The teacher who likes you beats the teacher with the title.
Give them a brag sheet, always
Teachers write dozens of these. The specific details in your letter will be the ones you handed them. A one-page sheet is the difference between a generic letter and a vivid one.
- Three specific moments from their class, with dates and what you did.
- What you are applying for and the story your application tells.
- Two or three traits you hope the letter can confirm.
- Your activities list and a line on where you are headed.
Your counselor letter is a different job
The counselor writes about context: your school, your circumstances, and what you did with what you had. Make sure they know anything that explains a dip or a constraint.
- Tell them about family responsibilities, jobs, illness, or a bad semester.
- Give them the same brag sheet, plus what makes your school unusual.
- Students have been admitted partly because a counselor named something the student never mentioned.
Ask early, and ask properly
Ask in person, at least a month before the deadline, and make the yes easy to give. Then follow up with the sheet, the deadlines, and a thank-you.
The letter is only as specific as the material you give the person writing it.
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