The conventional wisdom is that you want to get recommendations from teachers in core academic subjects, particularly for the most selective schools, but what do you do when the student is having trouble identifying a teacher from those subject areas who knows her well enough to write a strong recommendation? How would most schools view a recommendation from a foreign language teacher? What about an AP teacher from a different discipline, like Art or Music Theory? And in the last case, would it affect your answer if the student is intending to major in that discipline?
Those are general questions, but if you’ll indulge me, I’d also like to ask about a specific example. Student is likely a music major, applying mostly (but not exclusively) to LACs - some I’d call highly selective, and for others I’d drop the “highly” - and is currently deciding who to ask for recommendations. Potential recommenders are described below - which two would you pick for this student?
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A not-yet-determined English/science/math/history teacher who would likely write a fine but not especially enthusiastic recommendation
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AP Spanish teacher - taught her for two years and seems to like her - probably a stronger recommendation
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AP Music Theory teacher - taught her for two years, definitely likes her, advisor to a 4-year extracurricular in which she has a leadership role (this will probably be listed as the #3 activity on her activities list) - this would likely be a pretty strong recommendation
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Choir teacher - taught her for four years, definitely likes her, consistently gives her leadership positions, advisor to two other 4-year extracurriculars in which she has leadership roles (likely the #1 and #2 activities on her list) - this would likely be the most glowing of all the recommendations
Foreign language is one of the five core academic areas.
AP Art or MT are ok, whether going to major in that or not.
I would lean towards the AP Spanish and AP MT teacher. Choir teacher could be an additional rec sent to schools that allow that. Has your D talked with their HS counselor about this?
Also make sure to follow the directions of each college on her list. Is your D a senior?
Not sure what the dilemma is. Foreign language is considered a core high school academic subject for college preparation, so a teacher in that is certainly an appropriate recommendation. Arts are considered a core high school academic subject by some colleges, and is likely a very appropriate recommendation for an intended arts major.
The main potential issue in the scenario is if the student applies to a college that wants two teacher recommendations and specifies one each in (a) math or science and (b) humanities, arts, or social studies, and all of the apparently most desired recommenders are in one of those categories. There may be other colleges with more obscure rules on what recommendations they want.
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when I taught in a private school, the college counselors trained me in how to write rec letters for the students. My most important take-home was that my rec letter for different students should be tailored to their individual goals, and the least important point was to describe how this student performed in my class (their grades and test scores already reflect this).
I teach computer programming, and I’ve written rec letters to students pursuing various majors including music performance. The music student was in my class for one year. My class was where he practiced problem solving in decomposing a large problem to small parts and to build a big project with small pieces from various sources. He was not the top students in the class, but this prospective adds to his profile things not shown elsewhere in his application. Nobody can say if my rec letter was indeed helpful in his admissions; however, at the time the student believed he needed it.
when it was time for my own children to apply for college, we used what I’d learned from the private school college counselors. When approaching their teachers for rec letters, they each expressed what they believed would help their applications. Of course the underlying context was that they were outstanding students in all classes and many teachers liked them.
Desired letters depend on the school. Read each school’s description of what they want and you can then find a common demoninator.
Some schools don’t even want letters.
So I don’t think conventional wisdom is that conventional.
And I’m guessing most kids (not the CC top kids) but most don’t necessarily have the perfect teacher relationship.
I would find the set a schools ask for first and foremost. It may be you need one and art is fine. It may be you need one and it needs to be a core subject.
As for #1, I don’t think you need enthusiastic. You are hopeful they highlight the proper traits - so and so participates in class. So and so is helpful to their classmates. Not - I have so and so and she’s an excellent student although I’m sure they get a lot of that.
#2 sounds great
#3 sounds great - unless they specifically say English, Math, Language, Science and Social Science - few, if any, will get that granular.
#4 - this is why “it depends” - but if she’s in ECs with her, this might be where the “extra recommender” comes in (not academically per se but as a leader in the choir".
But start with - where’s she applying and what do they say they want? It’s often not as onerous as many using “conventional wisdom” think.
Thank you all. I’ve always thought of the core subject areas as just math, english, science, and social studies, but it sounds like it’s pretty common to include foreign language as well.
I like the advice about thinking about what’s missing from her application and find someone to fill in that hole - thank you for that.