Hi all! I’m a high school junior looking to apply to Oxford for PPE in the fall. My school is running our “Recommendation Letter Request Week” soon and I’m unsure who would be best for my UCAS application. I was hoping to receive some clarity as to what I should be looking for.
I’m taking AP Lang, AP US Gov, and APUSH as far as humanities subjects are concerned. I have a very good relationship with my Language and Gov teachers, so I’d like one of them to write my UCAS letter.
My Language teacher runs our English Honor Society in which I will likely be president next year. She’s constantly exposed to my writing and analytical ability during our rhetorical analysis assignments. She’s said that I’m her favorite student which is really great for UK and US rec letters alike. However, I’m worried to ask an English teacher to recommend me for a politics course (does it imply I underperform in government class?).
My US Government teacher likes me comparably well and compliments my work ethic/extensive political knowledge. I’m flattered, but although I perform well in class discussions, we have only had two writing assignments during the whole year (on which I gladly scored high marks). He knows I have a background in studying politics on my own, but we haven’t had one-on-one philosophical discussions with him as I’ve had with my Language teacher. That said, he will teach my Economics course during senior year while my Language teacher is retiring. He also may be able to give more credible grade predictions for my future AP Exams in social sciences (Comparative Government, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics).
How should I evaluate who to ask for a UCAS letter? I can provide a “brag sheet” to both, but I’m not sure whether I should sacrifice depth of personal knowledge for a more relevant recommender to my prospective degree. Thank you all for your time and consideration!