Letters of recommendation in high school question...

[housemouse]

When getting letters of recommendation from different coaches, teachers, etc. during high school, do you "collect" them throughout high school years or only during senior year?

[madteaparty]

I don't think it's possible to collect them. DS needs one this fall for a program and he will ask the respective prof a few months ahead of time. But if the prof gets a link to fill it out directly.

 

[g1234]

I've been wondering about this, too.  My kid (10th grade) has a teacher this year who would write an excellent letter.  She could ask him later when she's applying to colleges, but his memory of her and what makes her stand out in his mind will be less clear in a year and a half.  I wish we could open a Common App account now for her and collect letters there, but I think you have to wait until early summer of the year you're applying, when that year's Common App version goes live.  It seems kind of silly to ask him to write her a letter now and then keep it until he can upload it over a year from now--sounds like we don't trust him to write a good one later when she has an account.  Has anyone else come up with a better solution?

[tampamommy]

I would suggest using this type of situation to teach your children how to build/nurture a contact list...in other words, how to network.

 

When dc had this arise, they would ask the teacher/mentor etc. for their email address and/or phone number, so that dc could touch base with them periodically--giving them an update on their progress, their goals, their accomplishments and such. They also would call occasionally to say hi or ask advice if applicable.

 

When obtaining the teacher's contact info for future use, my dc clearly explained the above, and that they wanted to keep the connection because they not only appreciated the teacher's contribution to their success, but also would possibly ask for a letter of recommendation in the future for college or special programs.

 

It worked well for dc!

[regentrude]

What is the LOR for? In most circumstances, the student will be asked to waive his right to see the letters, and many recommenders would consider it unprofessional to hand a letter directly to the student. So "collecting" them would be not possible.

Colleges and scholarship programs usually require recommenders to submit the letters directly.

 

The student can over the years build strong relationships with potential recommenders and approach them a few  months before the deadline asking whether they would be willing to write a LOR for them.

I think a LOR should be from a person who has known the student recently, ideally over a longer period. If the LOR comes from the 9th or 10th grade teacher, that raises the question why the student was unable to find a more recent person to recommend him.

Edited February 5, 2018 by regentrude

[teachermom2834]

It seems to me that when asking someone to write a LOR they recommender will often ask what it is for and write the letter specifically to that purpose. A recommender might want to know is if for college admissions? a special scholarship? an honors program? a job?

 

I get the inclination to want a letter from someone early in the process but I think it is awkward and a bit inappropriate. You are asking the recommender for a favor that is going to take some time and effort. I'm not sure you should ask for it just in case you might need it. My boys didn't need very many letters but they were for different things and it helped to tell the recommenders what specifically they were for.I am not a teacher but if I was I can imagine telling a student "come see me when you need the letter" instead of writing a generic one ahead of time just in case.

 

I agree with it being best to get recommenders you have been involved with more recently. One college info session we attended requested the letter be from a teacher that had the student junior year.

[Lanny]

We do not collect them.  DD applied for a Summer Camp and she has requested 2 Letters of Recommendation.  Later in the year, she will need more, when she applies to universities.  What's in the letters for 2 very different purposes will probably be quite a bit different. 

[Corraleno]

I've been wondering about this, too.  My kid (10th grade) has a teacher this year who would write an excellent letter.  She could ask him later when she's applying to colleges, but his memory of her and what makes her stand out in his mind will be less clear in a year and a half.  I wish we could open a Common App account now for her and collect letters there, but I think you have to wait until early summer of the year you're applying, when that year's Common App version goes live.  It seems kind of silly to ask him to write her a letter now and then keep it until he can upload it over a year from now--sounds like we don't trust him to write a good one later when she has an account.  Has anyone else come up with a better solution?

For schools that use the Common App (which opens in August), you also have to "assign" the recommender to one or more specific colleges before they can upload anything, so you need to have at least one school designated before you can even request a recommendation. Once you assign a recommender, they will get an email from the Common App asking them to fill out a form and submit the letter. You can assign different recommenders to different schools, and the letters don't actually get sent to colleges until you submit your application(s).

 

If you think this is a teacher that your DD will likely still want to use 18 months from now, she could make some notes about the sort of things she would want him to write about (grades, essay topics, things they discussed in class or after class, quotes from his comments on her work, etc.). Then she can use her notes to jog his memory and provide some content if she does decide to ask him for a letter.

[creekland]

I wrote a letter of recommendation this year for a student I had full time in 10th grade two years ago. It's not difficult remembering really good students. He also had more recent teachers as his other two letter writers. So far he has two acceptances with one being a full ride. I don't think waiting hurt him.