Academic Letters of Recommendation

[mirabillis]

This has been asked a million times, I know. And I've read most all the responses... But what sayeth the Hive now? What is your advice?

Most schools my dd is applying to ask for 2 TEACHER LORs. Most offer an OTHER recommender as optional. She has her 1st Teacher Recommendation -but we are struggling to figure out a 2nd one - as all her classes are at home or outsourced, so no one knows her in person. I know she can have 2 from distance-learner teachers, but they can't really speak to her character. We've already got one of those. CAN we use a non-academic recommender for the 2nd spot?? 

Otherwise she'll be sending 3 - as the TEACHER LOR don't know her personally. So we feel she has to have at least 1 recommender who knows her well. So instead of having 3 (2 meh, 1 good) when they only require 2, can we just send 1 teacher + 1 other - and slot them both into the teacher recommenders in the common app?

What are your thoughts?

[kokotg]

I think this is going to be hard for a lot of kids this year, even ones who weren't homeschooled since so much was online last year. We're going back and forth about the same kind of thing; DS has one letter from an online teacher from last year (and it was a music theory class, so not a core subject), but he's not sure who to ask for the second one. He could go with a teacher from an in-person class this year, who's only known him for a couple of months, or with his piano teacher, who's not from an academic subject, but who's known him for years. Some schools are more flexible about the recommenders for homeschool applicants; I know that Oberlin's page on homeschool admissions talks about how your LOR can come from coaches, extracurricular advisors, etc. So, yeah, I don't know either! I think what DS will do, assuming his current teacher agrees to write one for him, is to submit that as his second letter but also ask his piano teacher for one that he'll submit as the optional 3rd letter where allowed. 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Don't assume an online teacher can only write a meh recommendation. My kids had some outstanding recs from online teachers and pretty meh letters from in person CC profs (who I expected to be more effective letter writers).

Within Common App, you have to designate a recommender by category. If the college requires teacher recommendations, you can't use a recommendation from someone with a different category in that spot. 

Also, lots of students have minimal relationships with teachers from last year. It's ok to go back to sophomore year, use a non-core subject teacher, or max out other recommenders. 

[MamaSprout]

Ask the school what they want.

My dd's "teacher" recommendation comes from our county's 4H Extension Leader. It was requested that we do it this way from dd's #1 choice school. It was the only school with the teacher LOR required. It was optional at the other 3. She had asked their admissions over the summer when she was at an event they hosted. She has engaged with this school in academic activities, though, so maybe that matters.

She basically asked the school the same thing you are asking, "I could give a teacher recommendation from someone who doesn't know me well, or a non-teacher recommendation from someone in the community who does know me well." They suggested the community member. Since we just got notification today that her app is complete, then I'm assuming it is okay.

[daijobu]

I write LoRs for my online students all the time.  Even before the pandemic when I was meeting kids in person, I didn't really know them outside of class.  I think teacher LoRs are speaking to a student's academic performance and interactions with the student.  I think the Counselor Letter is really more about a student's personality and integrity and other soft characteristics.  

 

[elegantlion]

I just finished a LOR for a student who was in an wholly online course. Because they stood out in the online enviroment, I was easily able to write the letter. There were positive trends I saw in how this student handled the online aspect, good time managment, communicating with me via email and in office hours, their response to my feedback. They are applying to a specific program in our school, so I looked at that webpage to see what they wanted I was able to craft my letter to show how she met those criteria. 

So an online course does not preclude the teacher from writing a good LOR. 

[regentrude]

You definitely can have a strong LOR from a teacher in an online class if the student interacted with the teacher and participated in class beyond just turning in the assignments. It's probably not possible in a canned course that is fully asynchronous and does not involve discussion boards or interaction.

I took an online class and actually became good friends with my teacher. It all depends on the setup of the class and the degree to which the student actively participates.

[Momto6inIN]

I had a coach from an extracurricular write a LOR as a 2nd "teacher" and it was fine.