<p>Does anyone have experience with a system where students do not ask teachers directly for letters of recommendation, and instead the school matches them up to make sure that some teachers don’t get too overloaded? </p>
<p>If so, I’d be very interested in hearing what process your school used to do the matching and how well it seemed to work.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I have never heard of this. So, the student has no say whatsoever as to who writes their recommendations? Very strange. I wouldn’t like it much.
What process does your school use for matching students to teachers.</p>
<p>This year the students listed teachers in order of preference and one of the school administrators made the match. I’m not sure what all the criteria were. The school is thinking about what to do next year, and I’m interested in hearing about any longer-term experiences people might have had with a similar system.</p>
<p>At each of the high schools my kids attended (two schools within the same school system), it was a free for all, with no input from the guidance department or the administration.</p>
<p>The kids asked whatever teachers they wanted, and the teachers said yes or no (when it was no, it was usually because the teacher had already said yes to as many people as he/she had time to write recommendations for). The teachers decided how many recommendations to write. One that I know of set a limit of only 10, while others were willing to write 100 or more.</p>
<p>Perhaps something more organized would have been better.</p>
<p>It must be a huge piece of work for the most popular teachers. My son chose the teachers of his Jr year AP classes. They were gracious and wonderful. Maybe some schools try to equalize the load.</p>
<p>At schools where teachers provide written comments about students, it makes sense for the GC to direct the students toward the teachers who might write the strongest recs.</p>
<p>^^^How would the gc know who would write the strongest rec? I doubt they have very good information about the classroom dynamic.</p>
<p>I think this is a ridiculous system. If some teachers are being asked to write few recs, that is probably a reflection of the respect students have for them, or an indication that they have not gotten to know students very well, whether in class or during out of class activities. My son asked teachers who knew him well, either because there was a lot of discussion in class, or (in the case of a math teacher) because he knew the teacher both from class and through his participation in math team and math club.</p>
<p>As a parent, I would have a lot to say, I think, if a school instituted a system in which the guidance office decided who would write college recs for my kids.</p>
<p>This system seems like it is instituted for the benefit of the teachers, solely, and not for the students. These are the students’ applications- they belong to the students. The process should belong to the students.<br>
At least the kids get to put down their 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices. But, it still seems like too much control is being taken from the kids.</p>
<p>Haha, good for my school which not many people apply to schools that even need recs!</p>
<p>Thanks very much to all for your feedback.</p>