I agree with everything that @lkg4answers wrote - at my school, it would be very very late to ask once Senior year has begun. Also, there is no time limit on teachers writing/submitting after being asked (“two weeks”?) but you need to have asked early enough for him/her to meet the deadline of your college.
It is wise for students to put together a packet for any recommender, including resume, relevant grades/bragging, maybe a few stories they specifically remember happening in class that call out a nice personality aspect.
Most teachers do have to limit how many letters to write, because you can’t write good letters if you’re trying to write fifty of them on your own time.
There are sometimes exceptions to this if a teacher really adores a certain student and was hoping s/he would ask.
Regarding U-Pitt: someone said their daughter went to Blue and Gold and returned to an acceptance. Hearing this, I had my DS log in and make an application to get started, since he’s going to B&G this week. However, applications for the fall of 2020 are NOT open yet, so perhaps someone made an error in reporting here.
S20 got his first acceptance in today’s mail! Ole Miss. We are driving out to visit campus later this week, so the timing is good. If he likes what he sees, he’ll put the time and effort into honors and scholarship apps.
The first acceptance is such a huge relief! Verification that the process works.
We attended the Biology “Sneak Preview” day at the University of Minnesota today, and found it really helpful, much more so than the standard info session and tour. There were a few presentations, a panel Q & A, and an information fair where we cold speak with representatives from several majors and minors, housing, financial aid, etc. I’m definitely glad we did it.
We have a few more schools we’re going to tour but it’s going to take a lot to get him to go elsewhere at this point (and I’m happy if he doesn’t, as long as it’s an informed decision).
@ShrimpBurrito congratulations! We’re in a very similar position, but with Iowa State: he was accepted already but we’re touring later this week.
@ShrimpBurrito and @myrna97 - Congratulations…its impressive to get acceptances already.
Its all coming closer for class of 2020 - a bit nervous. DS20 haven’t yet started the common app; he does not have an essay topic yet. He is working on a few topics but seems stuck on finalizing; we set a weekly session to update - nothing moved in last 2 weeks after he returned from a camp - hope it picks up from now.
@myrna97 - Is the Twin Cities application open yet? I told DS to start working on applications now that he’s finally home, but he’s been working on the MN ones and I don’t think they’re even ready.
Wow Congratulations @myrna97 and @ShrimpBurrito ! That’s awesome!
S20 comes back next week, then he’ll have to get started. He hasn’t done any essays or looked at the common app yet!
D20 has submitted her app to the U of Iowa. Acceptance to the university as a whole is necessary before she can apply to the school of nursing, so hopeful for a quick turnaround, but she needs a little more time to finish the essays for the supplemental app, anyway.
Next is UMinn for her, too. Same thing as Iowa…a few small supplemental essays for the nursing program, but I think those are due at the time of the regular university app submission.
after he returned from a camp - hope it picks up from now.