Letters of Recommendations

doraemon33004
Sun, 15 Jan 2017 15:35:57 +0000

I am a senior so I have already sent in all my apps and recommendations.

But there is something I have been wondering about letters of recommendations.

I have been learning karate and piano for 14 and 12 years respectively. I go to the same schools and have been with the same teachers. In karate I have already achieved a black belt and in piano I am also achieved considerable depth. Both my teachers have suggested without me asking that they would be thrilled to write a letter of recommendation for me for my college application process.

I spoke to my high school counselor and he indicated to me that colleges want the teachers who taught me in academic classes, not extracurricular. Further he said colleges don’t want any “additional” letters to read because the more concise it is the better. He recommended strongly against it. So I never pursued it further.

But in the back of my mind, I have always wondered. Both teachers who wrote my recommendation letters, they had to write it after knowing me for only 6 months because my school requires us to designate the teachers’ names for recommendation in March/April of the junior year - not the schools but only who you designate to write mine. So how is a teacher who taught me six months of Physics going to have more insight then say a teacher I have known for 12 years in a music academy who I see twice a week, who once had a heart attack and couldn’t do any class for 3 months while he recovers and during that time I became the assistant teacher and held classes for him, who I have composed with, who I have conducted concerts in local communities with? or the karate teachers who taught me since I was a small, who I went to competitions and tournaments with, who knows more about my knee injuries then my parents? I can’t seem to get my head around that. What does the physicis teacher know about me? Nothing much…got an A, came to class everyday, participate in discussions, seems eager and smart…big deal.

I wondered if I failed to put my best foot forward by listening to my high school counselor.