<p>Some of the Ad Comm reps who post on CC to answer application questions have said that they don’t count foreign language as a core academic. (I had insomnia last night and was randomly browsing various threads.)</p>
<p>Some specific programs or specific schools require specific SAT Subject exams, particularly in math and science. It’s worth looking at the web pages of schools that might be of interest early on.</p>
<p>Wow, clearly I am out of date. When my older girls applied back in 2006 and 2008, there was precious little guidance about recommendations and kids chose all sorts of teachers from a variety of classes. My eldest chose a teacher who taught creative writing in an independent study! This core requirement is new to me.</p>
<p>IJD, are the schools that don’t accept foreign language teacher recs math/science oriented schools?</p>
<p>3girls- No. One was U Chicago, and I saw it in more than one place. I also recall hearing the same advice in info sessions.</p>
<p>I would make an exception for the kid who is all about the foreign language/culture and wants to major in the area (for example, Asian studies, particularly when backed up by summer experiences). I don’t think that the Spanish teacher for the kid who has taken 3 years of Spanish and shows no activity outside of school would be a plus.</p>
<p>IJD that is interesting about foreign language not being counted as a core class. We have visited over 20 schools so far ( between both kids) and so far there has not been a school telling us that FL is not a core class, however there are many schools in this country so I have to assume that some don’t consider FL to be core. When I called Northeastern I was told that they re- calculate GPA with the core classes and that included FL.</p>
<p>I guess it’s best to check your particular school!</p>
<p>It may be hard to get this out of various web pages. It may not even be official policy, but hearing from the person who reads the application that they will discount the recommendation from a foreign language teacher provides some guidance. (It will meet the recommendation requirement, but won’t necessarily help the applicant.) That would make me stay away from a foreign language teacher.</p>
<p>Partly, I find this ironic because D is sorting schools based on whether they offer the FL she started last year. She’s using it to measure breadth of the school, but she also wants to continue studying the language.</p>
<p>I don’t know a school that doesn’t consider FL core in terms of calculating their own GPA for admissions purposes. </p>
<p>For teacher recs I think it makes sense to choose teachers who know you well, like you, and teach a subject you intend to major in, if you have any idea what that will be. Engineering programs seem to want math and science teachers.</p>
<p>It might make sense to choose 3 to write and select the appropriate 2 for each app…</p>
<p>If your child is not applying to schools that require SAT II’s is there any reason for them to take them? A school like USC does not require them but it’s clearly very competitive to get into so are they really looking for these SAT II’s or applying without and having stats that fall within their range enough along with very strong EC’s enough?</p>
<p>Oops I guess I misunderstood. My older kid got her letter from her Spanish teacher and she was accepted to 8 out of 8 schools. </p>
<p>It is not necessary to take the SAT 11 if a school does not ask for it.</p>
<p>Am I correct that Georgetown is the only school left that encourages 3 subject tests? JHU strongly recommends two, not three. My eldest was accepted there with 2 so I’m not sure if they ever required 3. They may have “recommended” them though and since she took charge of the applications all on her own, she would certainly have ignored that recommendation.</p>
<p>What I am starting to remember–dimly!–is that in the old days there were schools, like U Chicago, that were very specific in the teacher recommendations they wanted. If the phrase core academic subjects was used, I do not remember it. What I do I remember is that for some schools, one recommendation had to be from an English teacher and one had to be from a math or science teacher. If the school isn’t specific beyond requiring recs from an “academic core subject” and the FL is relevant to your student’s experience or prospective major or if it comes from a teacher who really knows your student and will heartily recommend him in good, clear language, I’d submit that recommendation.</p>
<p>Hmmmm. My D plans to continue to study French - wants it as part of a double major, or at least a minor. And she’s very good at it, so she was definitely planning on having her French teacher write a recommendation. So while now I’m conflicted on it, I’m leaning toward still having her do that, since it is a teacher that knows D fairly well, at least as compared to her other teachers.</p>
<p>Here’s another question: at my D’s school, the counselors don’t get to know the kids well at all. There are just too many kids and too few counselors. However, their “advisors” a/k/a “homeroom” teachers stay with them over all four years, and get to know the kids much better. Do you think this person could write the counselor rec instead of an actual GC?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Gosh I wish one could tell this, especially the last part. D had a teacher last year who loved her but his writing - which I saw too late, in an email to me - was AWFUL. Like bad grammar and spelling awful.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I think this advisor could write something for the GC to use, much as students and parents can put together info for the counselor. Our HS uses a questionnaire sent to parents and students from the GC at the beginning of senior year, some ask for a resume…when a GC doesn’t know a kid well, I’d just make sure s/he has LOTS of info to write from.</p>
<p>Suzy, your D would have to ask the school. I’m reasonably sure that’s not allowed at D’s school but there’s a lengthy process in place to generate that recommendation. The kids start having meetings with the counselors, they fill out lengthy questionnaires, they attend small group classes with their counselors over late junior and early senior year. It may not yield the most personal recommendation but with any luck it will be enough. I’m guessing that the function of the counselor’s letter is to provide context, how the individual student fits within the school context. I’m not sure the advisor would be able to do this as well. In D15’s school, the counselor takes the comments generated over 4 years and condenses their meaning into the recommendation letter. In my older girls’ school, the kids actually worked with the counselors to draft the letter.</p>
<p>I am spending the entire day here today! I have to stop procrastinating.</p>
<p>OHmom, we are lucky in that we get grades with comments from the teachers twice each year so we get a chance to gauge the writing skills a little bit. It also comes through who is just regurgitating the same bits and who is taking the time to write something more personal.</p>
<p>Our GC’s send home a packet in February of junior year for parents and kids to fill out. Sample questions include any info you want him to comment on, what are your academic strengths and weaknesses, how would people describe you, how have you spent the last two summers, do you plan to play sports, there is an activity sheet , what are your qualities, what are your outstanding personal and academic accomplishments, what would you like admissions counselors to know about you,etc. The packet is about 8 pages long- I just took a sampling of questions. </p>
<p>I would imagine that the home room teacher can write something up for the GC? Or the parent can?</p>
<p>3girls I spend all of my time here as well. It has taken over my life.</p>
<p>My guys went ahead and sent subject test scores to colleges that didn’t require them. If they get good scores, why not send them - it can only reflect well on a kid.</p>
<p>I agree Pinot and plan to do that as well.</p>
<p>What is a “good score” on a Subject test? Here on CC it seems like 700 is an absolute minimum and 750+ more the norm but this is CC, not the real world, I realize…</p>
<p>OHMom–here you go. <a href=“http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/research/SAT-Subject-Tests-Percentile-Ranks-2013.pdf[/url]”>http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/research/SAT-Subject-Tests-Percentile-Ranks-2013.pdf</a></p>
<p>You can judge for yourself. It is a smaller universe of self-selected test takers, so the percentiles fall off quickly.</p>