You want your peer recommendation to be unique and by coaching or providing a reference document it is defeating that purpose. When we toured Dartmouth and spoke with faculty and students and listened to conversations around us we came away feeling as if Dartmouth was but a larger version of my children’s school. They attend a small, private preK-12 that celebrates each student’s differences. Our students are encouraged to actively engage their teachers, to challenge and to back up their positions. “Teaching to the test” does not exist. Students are engaged in the community and with faculty and one another both inside and outside the classroom.
Dartmouth was like that but magnified 1,000 times over. A school that wants individuality and questioning and applauds the student that looks around and says “How can I make a difference?” wants to see YOU. Not you and your accolades of perfect grades or test scores but what makes you stand out, your passions. The problem with providing coaching is that you have then stifled the writer’s natural voice. Instead of telling that fabulous story about you and a bowl of Froot Loops the writer is forced to write about your hard work at the Soup Kitchen. Your work at the Soup Kitchen is admirable but quite frankly I’d much rather hear about you and that bowl of Froot Loops. Anyone can be that hard worker at the Soup Kitchen just substitute a different name but the Froot Loops story is all your own.
My daughter’s peer recommendation included my daughter’s religious beliefs, theatre and riding camels and herding goats in a Central Asian country among other things woven into the narrative. Dartmouth can see on your application what your grades are, your test scores and what clubs you participate in. They need someone to show them what is unique about YOU. Your application will be one of tens of thousands. This is the opportunity to make certain that you are memorable. You want your reader to set aside your application with the thought that smithemi97 is what we need more of here. I can’t wait to hear more about them!