Admissions Academy Blog

Teacher Recommendation How-To’s

•  Posted by Sarah Ziegler on April 23rd, 2008 in Admissions
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Most colleges will require you to submit letters of recommendations from one or two teachers and your counselor to provide insight about you as a student and as a person. In addition to extracurricular activities and essays, your letter of recommendations can help a college determine if you are a good fit for their institution. Especially for high selective institutions, teacher recommendations can be among the most important factors in determining who will be admitted. Here’s a quick how-to guide for the recommendation process:

* Teacher recommendations should come from your core subjects: English, history/social science, math, science, and foreign language. If you have a strong relationship with an elective or other teacher, consider having them write an additional/optional recommendation in addition to your academic teachers.

* Be sure to select teachers who know you well, ideally both inside and outside the classroom. If your teachers don’t know you personally, they can’t provide specific information about what would make you a good fit for your college choices.

* Ideally, your recommendations should come from junior year teachers, or from a teacher who has taught you for more than one year. Some colleges will accept sophomore or senior year teachers, but few will accept letters from freshman year teachers.

* Check your colleges to see if they have specific requirements about your recommendations (e.g. MIT asks students to have one English/history/foreign language recommendation and one math/science recommendation). At a minimum, your recommendations should come from different subjects (i.e. not from two English teachers, or two math teachers).

* Find out if your school has specific criteria or deadlines for teacher recommendations; they most likely do. If not, plan to have an initial conversation with your teachers before the summer holidays, and be sure to give your recommenders at least two to three months to write your letters.

* Ask in person so that you can discuss deadlines, necessary materials, and any questions either of you might have. Be prepared to talk about your extracurricular interests, what schools you are applying to, and what majors you are considering.

* Pay close attention to any deadlines and requirements your high school or colleges may have regarding procedures, forms, and envelopes. Both high schools and colleges can be very specific
about what they will, or will not, accept.

* Provide your teachers with all the materials they need at once. Put all of your recommendation request forms, stamped/addressed envelopes, college deadlines, resume or other materials, and cover letter or thank you card in one large folder or envelope. It’s disrespectful of your teacher’s time if you aren’t organized.

* After your teachers have sent your letters off, don’t forget to send a thank you note showing your appreciation. Also, make sure to let them know what you hear back from your colleges.

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College Applications: When is the optimal time to start?

•  Posted by Lori McCormick on April 22nd, 2008 in Admissions
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With so many time-consuming details involved in the college application process, the sooner you can complete your tasks, the less time you will scramble senior year to get things done. To alleviate some of the college application stress, begin working as early as possible on some of the preliminary details, especially if a student is planning on applying to a college early. Working off of an action plan will keep you organized and help you manage your projects and time.

Here are some questions to help you prepare for your college applications:

* What types of classes should I be taking in school?

* When is the best time to begin taking my ACT or SAT exams?

* Am I being productive with my spare time and how important are extracurricular activities?

* What do my summer plans look like?

* How do I start building a college list ?

* When should I start visiting colleges ?

* Am I eligible to apply to a University of California campus?

* How do I know what to write about in my college application essays?

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Academic freedom in the spotlight at Yale

•  Posted by Sarah Ziegler on April 21st, 2008 in Articles of Interest
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A controversial art project at Yale is raising questions about academic and intellectual freedom, with the university threatening to cancel the planned exhibit unless the student-artist admits publicly that the work is fiction. Read about the project in the New York Times, and an excellent analysis of its implications at the Chronicle of Higher Ed.

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