Some colleges allow parents to write their own child's recommendation letter, right?

[ssbmem]

Dd read on some college websites that parent-written recommendation letters are acceptable. What has your experience been? (Yes, we plan to send recommendations from non-family members also, but dd only has one non-family teacher who taught her in the first and third year of high school and one who taught her in the 2nd year.)

[Jane in NC]

Most homeschooling parents write the counselor's letter since that is a hat we wear. I think what your daughter has noted is that some colleges accept letters of recommendation from parents in general--not just those of homeschooled students.

 

By the way, we had no problem with parent generated letters, transcripts, etc.

[ssbmem]

How about writing a recommendation letter as a teacher also?

[Jane in NC]

How about writing a recommendation letter as a teacher also?

 

I wrote my recommendation in the counselor letter. My son's letters of recommendation came from his 4-H agent, the director of an animal rehabilitation center where he volunteered, and from a couple of college professors. He had volunteered at a field school and sought a recommendation from its director. By participating in dual enrollment, he also had other outside sources for letter writing.

 

We may have stretched the definition of "teacher" recommendation in the case of our 4-H agent, but we felt that she knew our son better than just about anyone. I would not hesitate to call the college and ask if they would prefer a letter from you as parent/teacher or a letter from a church official or employer or whatever as a recommendation from an outside source.

[Brenda in MA]

How about writing a recommendation letter as a teacher also?

 

Personally, I would not recommend a homeschool parent write a recommendation letter as teacher since he/she would also most likely be writing the counselor recommendation.

 

From our experience, especially with homeschooled applicants, the colleges use the recommendation letter(s) to try to get a feel for how the student has fared away from home. That's why the recommendation letter(s) should come from someone outside of the home. If the child has not taken many outside courses, then the colleges we talked to suggested that the recommendation letter come from an outside person the student has other involvement with. My son used an on-line course instructor, a CC professor, and his scoutmaster from Boy Scouts. The letter with the most insight into his personality and skills came from the scoutmaster, who had known him for 7 years.

 

I would broaden your search for letter writers to include people your dd has volunteered with or who have taught her other things (like music, dance, etc.). If she's involved in church youth ministry, that might be another source for a recommendation letter.

 

Best wishes,

Brenda

[Blue Hen]

We may have stretched the definition of "teacher" recommendation in the case of our 4-H agent, but we felt that she knew our son better than just about anyone.

 

We did something similar. My ds' main recommendation letter came from his Science Olymiad coach. We too felt that this man knew our son better than just about anyone, and had interacted with him from 7th grade on.

 

Carole

[TravelingChris]

We are writing the counselor letter. She will have a few LORs and choose from them for her colleges= two to three teachers, honor society sponsor, one of her employers. SHe definitely isn't sending all of these to each college but some may get three or four.

[Nan in Mass]

My experience is very limited, but my son applied and was accepted to college with the following documents:

The paper form of the application

A transcript generated by me using Word

A school profile written by me

A counselor letter written by me

SAT scores sent by the SAT people

A community college transcript sent by the community college

A letter of recommendation sent by his gymnastics coach

A letter of recommendation sent by his community college advisor

A letter of recommendation sent by one of his community college profs

 

The counselor letter was more or less a recommendation letter as a teacher/parent. The school profile explained our approach to homeschooling, how we did it, and how I translated the loose mishmash of daily work into a traditional transcript. The college specifically asked us personally (not applicants in general) for a letter from his CC advisor and one from a prof. The general directions for applicants asked for a recommendation from a teacher, or if the applicant had been out of school for awhile, an employer. We sent more than was asked for, but not so much that it would be a bother to look through. As far as I can tell, the college ignored my material and just judged him by the paperwork from the community college and how his brother (already in school there) was doing. Our experience is only with two applications to one college and only one of those applications was from someone who had homeschooled for high school, so I'm not sure how useful this is. I myself found it useful to see lists of what people had sent with their applications, so I posted.

 

-Nan

[Nan in Mass]

That is why we included the letter from the gymnastics coach - he knew my son best and knew best what it was like to teach him.

[Nan in Mass]

Adding - My oldest, who had been out of school for awhile when he applied, included a recommendation from his employer (his old gymnastics coach), his old scout leader, and an old high school teacher who remembered him. I think the guidance department wrote a letter as well, when they sent his transcript.