Guru Academic Advising
Like us, tweet us, connect with us:
  • Home
  • Meet the Team
  • Our Services
    • One-on-One College Planning
    • Virtual Essay Advising
  • Why Use a College Planner?
  • Testimonials
    • Accepted!
  • Contact Us
  • E-Newsletter
  • Resources
    • Blog
  • College Application Organizer

Advice and musings from the Guru Academic Advising Team

The college admissions process can be stressful, time-consuming, and confusing. Fear not! We are here to help set you on a path to presenting yourself as the best applicant you can be.

Join the Newsletter

Making Requests for Letters of Recommendation

4/18/2018

1 Comment

 
Picture
Pop quiz: How much do teachers get paid for each recommendation letter?

Answer: They don’t.

The people who agree to write you a letter of recommendation are doing you a huge favor. They do it because they think you are amazing and want to see you succeed, no doubt, but the request should not be casual or taken lightly.

I recently listened to the dean of a very selective southern college tell a group of college counselors that if students don’t have great recommendations, it’s their own fault. Harsh? Yes, a bit, but there is also truth in this statement. Here’s how colleges see it:
  • You have control over whom you ask for your recommendations.
  • It was up to you to develop a quality relationship with your teachers, counselors, and mentors. This cannot be done in the snap of a finger, so if the effort was not there to begin with, it’s no surprise it didn't show up in the letter.
  • The onus is on you as the student to provide the recommender with the materials needed to write you the best letter possible. Failure to do so often results in a low quality letter.

Here is our guide to getting great letters of recommendation:

STEP 1: Whom to Ask
You first need to start with a perusal of your colleges’ requirements for letters of recommendation. Some schools (we are looking at you, University of North Texas) don’t need them or want them as they are not used in their review process which is largely based on your grades and test scores. Other schools like Davidson and Dartmouth like to see a letter from a peer. Even others, such as Baylor, might value a letter of recommendation from a youth pastor or minister. As a generalization, and allowing for individual preferences by certain colleges, we recommend this:
  • Two letters from 11th grade core-subject teachers
  • A letter from your high school counselor
  • Two outside (or “other”) letters from people who know your character and achievements that are not academic (this cannot be written by a parent). You can be out of the box here. Last year a student had the high school janitor write one of his letters to much success. Choose the people that authentically know the best in you.

Whom NOT to Ask
  • An alumnus of the college you are applying to. Your admission officer will not be appreciative of this because it looks like you think you can leverage something other than merit to give yourself an unfair or undue advantage. Don’t play this game. Unless the person genuinely knows you the best of all the people you could ask (and just happens to be an alum -- that should not be the main point of their letter) don’t ask them. Seriously.
  • The mayor / senator / councilman / principal of the school / etc. Same rule applies here as in the above bullet point. If you are asking them because you think their title carries sway in the admissions process, you are wrong and you have misunderstood what admissions officers want to see in the letter. This is not a test of your (or your parents’) abilities to work your connections. This is supposed to give insight into your character and academic potential. It says the wrong things about your character to attempt to leverage a title to get you in.

When to Ask
Ask your teachers and counselor at the end of your junior year (we recommend after the craziness of AP testing is done but before the last two weeks of school). This does not mean they need to, or even should be expected to, write the letter before the year is done. Rather, it is a polite way of starting a conversation with them about your desire to have them support your college application bids. It is an opportunity to tell them where you are applying, what you want to study, and why you are asking them for their support. It allows them ample heads up that you will be adding them into your applications over the summer so they aren’t surprised when they see an email in their inbox saying you’ve added them to your Common Application when it goes live in August (over the summer, before anyone is back at school). You can ask in the fall, and many teachers (and counselors) will tell you to come back then. However, I strongly suggest an end of junior year polite foray into a conversation about your desire to have them write the letter on your behalf.

​How to Ask
Always ask in person. Make a specific appointment to sit down with them to have a real conversation about your request. Don’t make this casual or in passing. Treat the request with the degree of importance you would like them to also give to your letter. Email them to make an appointment to sit down for 15 to 20 minutes to talk about all the reasons they are awesome, what you’ve learned from them, the ways you have also been awesome while in their presence, and where you are planning to apply to college.

What to Give Them
Our students make “recommendation packets” for each person that writes them a letter. These take time and thought to prepare. Remember the effort you put into the request should reflect the effort you would like to receive in turn.

This is one of the planning tools we use with our students to help them create their Recommender Packets. Print this and fill it out to help you plan your own.

Here are example Recommender Guides from a student who had very successful recommendation letters that were effective in the admissions process.

And here is a resume template you might find useful, as well.

A Final Note
At the end of the process, remember to say thank you. You are off on an exciting (and challenging!) journey. You can tackle it bit by bit, and be sure to send thanks to those people along the way who support you and help you launch into this next amazing chapter of your life.


1 Comment

    About Us

    We are a full-service academic advising and college planning team. We started up shop in 2013 because we are passionate about helping students pursue opportunities for elite higher education. Need help? Want to know more? (972) 755-9507 

    Like us on FaceBook!

    Archives

    September 2019
    October 2018
    August 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    Categories

    All
    Admissions
    Application Boot Camp
    Applications
    Apply Texas
    College Major
    College Options
    College Visit
    Essay
    Extracurricular Activities
    FAFSA
    Financial Aid
    Future College Graduate Of The Month
    GPA
    Guest Post
    Guru Talks
    High School
    Ivy League
    Letters Of Recommendation
    Parenting
    Pepperdine
    Rigor
    SAT / ACT
    Scholarships
    Social Media
    Standardized Testing
    Summer To Dos
    Summer To-Dos

    RSS Feed


Picture
Contact​

Less stress, better results.
Copyright Guru Academic Advising, 2018.  

Work With Us 
​