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Letters of Recommendation


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How on earth is kiddo going to get letters of recommendation for college?

 

Here is the situation:

 

We have no access to community college courses.

 

The AP program at our local high school is under review by college board for not meeting standards (eg: CB isn't letting them call their classes AP because the teachers aren't qualified to teach at that level).

 

We have no "non-must sign a statement of faith co-op" available. Kiddo and I are looking to start a non religion-based one this fall, but there are no guarantees it will fly.

 

We are in a foreign country, and will most likely remain so for the duration of high school. Returning to our home country is not an option. "Live" on-line courses also don't work, as the time difference is too great.

 

I am considering signing him up for History at our House for 10th and 11th grade, as the instructor there will write LoR, even if the student is not able to take the "live" version of the class. I like the approach, but I could easily do basically the same class at home - I admit I would be doing this just for the recommendation option.

 

He is learning German online w/ a tutor via the Goethe Institut, and will test for their certificate after each year, but that isn't the same as a recommendation. I suppose I could ask the tutor...

 

He is involved in Israeli martial arts, and the instructor is a well educated professional. But an academic rec from a martial arts instructor? Um...

 

He is also a piper, and takes lessons for that. But again, a recommendation from one's music teacher when one's goal is physics?

 

I swear, even after all of the work I have put in to create a curriculum that fits him, part of me wants to toss it to the wind and sign up at Kolbe just so that I won't have to consider these things.

 

 

asta

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I was in much the same boat when I applied to university. My academic letters of recommendation were from 4-H leaders who'd supervised projects with substantial academic requirements. (Of course, I was applying for animal science.)

 

Is there any way for him to get involved with someone who works in physics or engineering, even if it's not as a teacher/student relationship? Another option, if you could swing the cost, is a summer intensive program aimed at high schoolers -- some of these offer scholarships for qualified students. (I am not sure if they are available in your country.)

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I swear, even after all of the work I have put in to create a curriculum that fits him, part of me wants to toss it to the wind and sign up at Kolbe just so that I won't have to consider these things.

 

asta

 

Asta,

 

I don't see how signing up with Kolbe (or any other "school") would solve this problem. The folks at Kolbe might write a counselor rec for your son, but would you really want this since they probably won't know him very well?

 

When we talked to colleges, they said they wanted at least one recommendation from someone outside the family who knew the child well and for a period of a few years, if possible. One admissions officer told us that my son's boy scout leader was a good choice, and we did end up having him write one of the letters. So I wouldn't discount a letter from a martial arts or a music instructor.

 

True that these folks are not teaching in his areas of interest, but they could hopefully speak to very important things like your son's dedication to his efforts, his level of commitment, his steady progression of skills, his willingness to practice at home, etc. These are all important skills for college.

 

I think you'd want to make sure that he has at least some outside tests (SAT2s maybe??) in his areas of interest (physics, math, etc.) to show that he has some ability in those areas.

 

If you really are looking for a rec from a math/science person, could you hire a tutor who might get to know your son? Is there another person, family friend, colleague, neighbor who has some math/science expertise that would be willing to work with him a bit so he/she could write a letter?

 

Brenda

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Another possibility might be to have your son take an online class such as those through PA Homeschoolers. My senior has just finished a class through them (AP Statistics) and there was quite a lot of student instructor interaction. I suspect that she could have requested a letter of recommendation from the instructor if she desired one.

 

My teen also included a supplemental letter of recommendation (non-academic) with all her applications that was from her supervisor in the job that she had for three summers.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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I am having him take SAT subject tests (he is currently studying for the Biology one, as he has recently completed his text).

 

I hadn't really thought about the "watch them progress" aspect, so that is great advice.

 

The primary language here is not English, but I may be able to find a mentor relationship at the university, as it is "internationally renown" - I hadn't thought of that, either.

 

What great ideas. Thanks, ladies!

 

 

asta

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All of my kids' academic recommendations were from online teachers who had never actually met them in person!

 

Each kid did submit a rec to each college from someone who knew them personally, but all of their academic recs were from people who have never seen them in person. None of the colleges seemed to have any issues with this. (They did have an impressive array of standardized test scores to back up the recs.)

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We are in the same boat: lots of outside recs, but none of them "academic" lol!

The few college reps I have talked to have said they would prefer a letter of rec from a solid, personal, many-years input, non-academic source than a letter from a year-long academic distance course.

 

Double check w/ the institution that will want the letters. If you have a well-documented academic portfolio at home [maybe even videos of labs/ tutorials, and selected projects], that could be enough to cover the academic aspect.

 

Do be sure that the source understands what is involved in a great letter of rec. One source asked me to write up a "typical" letter that would cover what *I* knew of his relationship w/ oldest, and he would personalize it. One source wrote a fairly....elementary....letter that i was hesitant to include in his portfolio! There are letter of recommendation forms that you can offer that ask for specifics also.

 

good luck!

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He is involved in Israeli martial arts, and the instructor is a well educated professional. But an academic rec from a martial arts instructor? Um...

 

He is also a piper, and takes lessons for that. But again, a recommendation from one's music teacher when one's goal is physics?

 

asta

 

Asta,

 

My dd has never taken an outside course, but has taken piano and violin lessons. She's been involved in 4H & 4H Dairy Cattle activities since she was 9.

 

She needed one outside recommendation for her application to one of the two SUNY (State University of NY) colleges that she applied to -- for a Physical Education major.

 

She chose the person who knew her the longest, her 4H Dairy Judging coach.

 

If dd hadn't applied so late in the year (March, for this fall), she'd have been accepted into this popular and therefore, competitive program. But because of the timing (they went out of their way to tell her this fact -- both in person and in writing), she was put on the waiting list. She expects to hear a final answer very soon.

 

All this to say that 4H Dairy Cattle has nothing to do with PE, nor is it terribly academic. But dd's application was very-well received.

 

HTH,

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Here is a link to a site on MIT's admission page that talks about what should be in a letter of recommendation. There are also several sample letters included and commentary from the admissions people about what they liked and disliked about the sample letters. I forwarded this link to the people that wrote my son's letters, and they said it was helpful to have examples from which to work.

 

http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/schools/writing_evaluations/index.shtml

 

HTH,

Brenda

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Here is a link to a site on MIT's admission page that talks about what should be in a letter of recommendation. There are also several sample letters included and commentary from the admissions people about what they liked and disliked about the sample letters. I forwarded this link to the people that wrote my son's letters, and they said it was helpful to have examples from which to work.

 

http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/schools/writing_evaluations/index.shtml

 

HTH,

Brenda

 

Thank you, Brenda! That was excellent.

 

 

a

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