<p>It is common for most students, to get two recommendations from teachers and here is my problem…</p>
<p>I got a recommendation from my AP economics harvard grad teacher who I know alot and offered to write my recommendation. So I have no problem here. </p>
<p>Now, I need one more rec but can’t find any other teacher…
I asked my english teacher but he rejected and emailed my US history teacher (I did very well in this class and participated a lot, but never really got along because of our political differences).
Now I really can’t ask my math,science, and language teachers because I never really participated in those classes.
This leaves me with only one option… my business class. I am considered by many to be his favorite student (primarily because I sold an online retailing business for 10,000 US last year). The only thing is, this teacher is known to somewhat of a slacker and will probably not write a good rec or not be willing to as he is lazy. </p>
<p>On a brighter note, I have three individuals willing to write recommendations for me.
The first is the senior president for Formosa Plastic. A S&P company in Asia. I interned there two years ago.
The second is the founder and CEO of IMI groups. A public relations/marketing firm where I interned at last year
The third is the dean of swarthmore college, who I have know since a young age and have had long talks of philosophy with </p>
<p>Would it be possible to replace these teacher rec’s with a non teacher rec</p>
<p>It sounds like your business teacher could write a letter for you that would highlight a unique part of your high school experience. Have you talked with that teacher yet about whether he would be willing to write a letter?</p>
<p>I would not try to substitute a teacher rec with an outside rec. If you have not managed to impress your teachers enough to get a good rec, that tells the schools something. I personally would go with the business teacher from what you have said. Although the history teacher may be fairminded enough to write a good rec based on your academics (depends on whether you were a jerk or respectful in the discussions, I guess). I am curious about why the English teacher rejected your request, do you know? Could be volume of letters they were already doing, that you asked too late, or that they truly felt they could not write you a good rec (that would be a bad sign).</p>
<p>If schools allow an additional external recommendation, I would go with the better of the two internship recommendations. Just an observation, a high school student’s musings on philosophy really aren’t typically worthy of a rec letter. If you had won a Davidson scholarship for work in philosophy or something, that is worth getting into your resume. Otherwise best avoided. And if you think have a top college dean write your letter will sway a school, I doubt it in this age of admissions (it is the sort of thing my 80 year old parents would think works, but the currency of the realm has changed a lot since their day). You seem very “title concious” in your list of outside recommenders. Be sure whoever writes the rec REALLY knows what you did and can recommend you highly. If the president/founder didn’t see your daily work (met with you only a few times, for example), then that will show in the letter. Don’t be blinded by someone’s high title and think it substitutes for a deep understanding and appreciation for you and the work you did.</p>