rbk mama Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 DS has two online AP teachers whom he feels comfortable asking for a recommendation from - one science and one English. He has taken no DE classes. He also has someone who taught two different homeschool co-op classes (Statistics and Debate) that each met once/week for one semester. He's applying to engineering programs, so the hard science teacher rec seems important (and that was a more intense, year-long class as opposed to a one semester Statistics class), but the Debate/Statistics teacher interacted with him in person, not just online. Of the three teachers, he would say that his English teacher probably got to know him best. :confused1: Some schools want only one teacher recommendation; most want only two. He's asking all three, but we'd love to hear opinions on which one or two he should choose to send! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopmom Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 Any activities he was involved in like 4 H, math league, robotics, for example? Did he have an adult mentor he worked with ever? An advisor for a volunteer position? One of those would help round out the teacher recommendations since they'd know him in person & for more than just one class. If not, I'd submit the science teacher and ... Um, I dunno. Some only require 1 but will let you upload more than one, I noticed on the common app. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 (edited) I would choose the one who knows him best and can write a letter about his personality. You don't want a letter that just talks about him being a diligent student in a rigorous class who turned in all assignments on time and got an A. You want a letter that can speak to his charater traits, what makes him tick - a letter that makes him stand out from other applicants and gives the reader a pictuure of the kind of person he is. His academic performance is mirrored in his grades and test scores, and the college will know he has taken this statistics class, from transcipt and course descriptions - so I do not see the rigor of the course in any way relevant for the choice of recommender. My DS had one LOR from his employer; he has been working for a small business since 9th grade, and she wrote a very nice letter that said a lot about him as a person. Edited August 25, 2017 by regentrude 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbk mama Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 Any activities he was involved in like 4 H, math league, robotics, for example? Did he have an adult mentor he worked with ever? An advisor for a volunteer position? One of those would help round out the teacher recommendations since they'd know him in person & for more than just one class. If not, I'd submit the science teacher and ... Um, I dunno. Some only require 1 but will let you upload more than one, I noticed on the common app. The common app has a separate category for "other" recommenders that this would fit under. He could ask a few people under that heading, though he says he was warned at several colleges to NOT include those unless they were really significant, and that if they weren't, it would have a negative impact, as they really don't want to read extra recs. So DS feels nervous about doing that. We've been discussing this question here - as homeschoolers, are we in a somewhat different category, and would it be OK if we sent extra recs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbk mama Posted August 25, 2017 Author Share Posted August 25, 2017 (edited) You don't want a letter that just talks about him being a diligent student in a rigorous class who turned in all assignments on time and got an A. You want a letter that can speak to his charater traits, what makes him tick - a letter that makes him stand out from other applicants and gives the reader a pictuure of the kind of person he is. Thanks, this is helpful! He feels his English teacher actually got to know him best because they had video chats, and he really enjoyed the discussions. But the statistics/debate classes were also good. Does it matter that they were just once/week and considerably less interaction overall than the English class? Edited August 25, 2017 by rbk mama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 Thanks, this is helpful! He feels his English teacher actually got to know him best because they had video chats, and he really enjoyed the discussions. But the statistics/debate class was also good. Does it matter that it was just once/week and considerably less interaction overall than the English class? I don't think so. A person can get to know another person quite well by meeting once a week over the course of a year. They both sound like good choices. The recommender will address the manner in which she knows the applicant in her letter 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopmom Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 The common app has a separate category for "other" recommenders that this would fit under. He could ask a few people under that heading, though he says he was warned at several colleges to NOT include those unless they were really significant, and that if they weren't, it would have a negative impact, as they really don't want to read extra recs. So DS feels nervous about doing that. We've been discussing this question here - as homeschoolers, are we in a somewhat different category, and would it be OK if we sent extra recs? Interesting. I was not sure if your Ds had any "others" or if this teacher would be his only one. Ds is using one teacher (a prof he's taken all of his computer science classes with at the CC) & including two "others"- one from his robotics coach of 4 years (hundreds of hours spent together) & one from an adult mentor he has worked with for 3 years doing electronics & coding "for fun". But all of the school's he's applying to ask for at least one teacher & 1-2 others, so they aren't extra, per se & are worthwhile ones, IMO. I can see the wisdom of not asking just anyone, for sure. Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted August 26, 2017 Share Posted August 26, 2017 Use the teacher that knows him well, even if the class is not related to the major. Being interesting and a hard worker in a class that is not for your major or area of passion shows a general love of learning and will be a positive. Plus English teachers generally know how to write! There's this idea right now that well-rounded kids are rejected, but I think this has bee taken too far by some families. It's one thing to have a passion; it's another thing to tune every aspect of you application to show that you are a one-trick pony. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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