<p>Besides doing quality work in your classes, what can you do to acquire very impressive recommendations?</p>
<p>Nothing. If there was something in particular you could do, many people would attempt to do it. Go above and beyond when you can. Just try your best. Participate. Be yourself. :)</p>
<p>Quality. Care. Participation. <strong><em>QCP</em></strong></p>
<p>When you participate in class, make your contributions thoughtful ones that advance the intellectual discourse. Don’t be afraid to challenge others’ views and lead the discussion in different but relevant directions. </p>
<p>Care about your work, and quality will follow.</p>
<p>Get to know your teachers and let them get to know you. Some teachers might become your mentors.</p>
<p>Also, pick teachers you know who are RESPONSIBLE and hwo you know will write you good letters. Some teachers at my school totally forget about it and at the last minute slap something together. That kind of situation definitely wouldn’t help you.</p>
<p>Make sure that you are the best, quantitatively, and hope that the teacher feels that you are in the qualitative sense as well. At my school, some teachers post grades with our numerical student ID next to them. I always made sure that I had the highest grade, not just overall, but on each assignment. I got 100% on projects on which no one ever had before. If you can’t see the stats of others like I could, then just make sure that you get high A’s on everything. Any smart kid can slide by with a 92% (unless the school has A- or a 100-93 range for an A grade) but it almost always takes effort to maintain a 98% or so average. Teachers appreciate that. But don’t do this in a way that smacks of greedy intensity. Be calm and attentive and savor the process of learning. Or seem to.</p>
<p>Show the qualities of your personality in class. If a discussion leads to a debate be respectful of others opinions. Listen to your classmates and don’t try to disprove what they’re saying, unless it’s math or something and it’s actually not true. Don’t impose your view on everyone else, and don’t participate in a show-boaty way, but rather in a generous manner.</p>
<p>The way to actually do all of this and thus get a “best in career” “truly special” sort of rec is to find the class where it comes naturally. I do sometimes try to show-off or disprove others in discussions in English class. Outside of English and the histories, I’m not notable enough of a student to get such a rec. The one class where I just happened to be like this was Art History, though Chem comes close.</p>
<p>So, I guess, to get a “once in a career” rec, you have to not just perform actions that seem, those which a man might play. You need to be, to have that within which passeth show ;).</p>
<p>^Disagree with the trying to PC in debates. I almost try to go over the top when we have class discussions. I try to be really impassioned and bring up obscure outside information. I think this gives me real personality and character which my teachers really appreciate. If you are always trying to be PC, I think it can make you come off as a grind…</p>
<p>My English teacher wrote a “best in career” rec for me (he showed it to me after he sent it). How did this come about? NOTE: The following happened naturally - it was by no means a ploy of any kind to get him to write me a ref. It happened naturally and randomly. Luck, hard work, chemistry (as in, friendship, between teacher and I) and sincerity helped a lot in my case. Well, you should have the following:</p>
<ol>
<li>you should be a “natural” at the subject - or be excellent at faking it!</li>
<li>you should put plenty of effort into all you do - if you ever don’t understand something NEVER HESITATE to kindly ask for help. Teachers LOVE that even more than students who appear self-assured all the time.</li>
<li>Try to spark up some sort of friendship with the teacher. I know it sounds weird but I consider both my refs as “friends”. We have special bonds. Don’t overdo it though - I ruined my chances at getting a certain teacher’s ref because she told me she considers me too close a friend and fears it would be a conflict of interest because she wants to be objective in writing the ref.
4.Produce something groundbreaking and ORIGINAL. Original-good, not original-weird. I wrote a Jungian analysis about Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath’s Tale” and came up with some pretty crazy stuff. Stuff that despite his ten year teaching career, he looked at and though: “wow, I never thought of it that way - this is brilliant!”
I got the highest mark this hard marking teacher gave in his ENTIRE CAREER on an essay - period. Better yet, it was an IN CLASS essay. He emphasized that in the letter. He said it was the best essay he’s ever read in his entire career.</li>
<li>If your school has teachers who run/supervise “clubs,” join the club with the teacher you like. Chances are, if you and the teacher hit it off in class, s/he’d be supervising a club about something you are interested in. In my case, aforementioned English teacher sat on the exclusive Student Life Committee with me. He told me afterward that my suggestions were incredibly practical and brilliant at the same time. He even saw one of my big ideas actually executed by the school - he was impressed. Again, mentioned in the ref.</li>
<li>Participate in class. Regardless of how you score, the teacher needs to know who you are. Get out of your shell and bring up insightful ideas in class discussion - a word of caution, however: DO NOT get pompous, arrogant, or oppositional for the sake of hearing your own voice/sounding smart/impressing the teacher/one-upping someone. Teachers can tell and it’s a huge turn-off.</li>
<li>Most importantly, demonstrate passion for what the teacher is teaching. Don’t go overboard, again, but you must show interest and enthusiasm. Shy? Communicate the passion in your written work and see the teacher in private if you can.</li>
</ol>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Here is the letter which I only got to read after he sent it. Whaddya think? Ivy material?</p>
<p>Dear Sir or Madam:</p>
<p>It gives me great pleasure to write a letter of reference on behalf of [futurephysician], an excellent student in my AP English Literature course in the Fall 2008 semester of [my high school]. </p>
<p>In terms of scholastic achievement, [futurephysician] has demonstrated the intellectual curiosity, the academic integrity and overall enthusiasm that would make her an ideal student at any one of the universities she is applying into. Not only did she receive the highest grade in my challenging second semester course, restricted to the most gifted and advanced English students, she was also consistently focused during in class discussions in spite of the difficult 8 a.m. time slot. I was particularly impressed with [futurephysician]’s 1000-word in-class essay analyzing Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath Tale” from a Jungian perspective. [futurephysician]’s essay, written in a test-like environment, was perhaps the best one I have read in the seven years I have been giving this difficult assignment. What’s more, last summer I was in correspondence with [futurephysician] while she took summer courses at Harvard University. Again, [futurephysician]’s academic skills were in full force as she received an impressive A in [English course].</p>
<p>[futurephysician] has brought this fantastic attitude to her various extracurricular activities as well. As a valued member of the Student Life Committee, with which I am also involved, [futurephysician] has made several practical suggestions on how to improve the school environment. To that effect, we have recently implemented her recommendation to place compartmentalized recycling bins around the campus, which has been received with great success. What’s more, [futurephysician]’s superior creative talents are in full view as she puts the finishing touches on her comic play [name of play will give away my identity cause in 2 weeks it’s going to be all over the news] which has been adapted as our annual school play in March.</p>
<p>Please feel free to contact me at if you would like to further discuss [futurephysician]’s application. </p>
<p>Sincerely,</p>
<p>Teacher</p>