Is their any specific formatting for letters of recommendation for different schools or will any given letter be universally viable?
Always choose a teacher you think you have a good relationship and work with that. Always ask about four weeks before you need it done and always give information about yourself so the teacher can remember or add in to things they can say about you in the letter. There is not a format that is used or even common. Any letter is usually universal as long as it is positive because a negative one is really going to hurt your chances. Hope this helps!
I’d ask WAY longer before 4 weeks ahead of time.
At my son’s school, kids start asking in the spring of junior year. The school has rules. This year, April 9 was the first day students were permitted to approach teachers about LoR’s. Forms provided by the guidance office that the students use to talk about themselves are due to the teachers by June 15. This gives the teachers all summer to work on them, if they choose. I imagine most teachers would rather do that than do them during the school year under looming deadline pressure.
It sounds to me as though you’re asking how to write a letter. If so, then don’t sweat it. Your teachers have been writing these letters forever… while this is your first application season, it certainly isn’t ours. We know the drill.
If you’re asking about the letters you request, here’s what I suggest:
- Ask immediately. In my school, letters for Juniors are due by the end of the school year in June, except for the teachers who have 30+ to write... we got the requests about 2 weeks ago. The years I've had 30+, they've taken up a huge chunk of my summer, since it's hard to write more than 2 in a day without them sounding too similar.
I got a last minute request from a senior for a scholarship recommendation about a week ago… actually, it came via email from his mom. But here’s the kicker: I got the request on Wednesday, and it was due Friday. I wrote the letter of course, but I was so angry!! The fact that they waited until the last minute impacted my plans for my time with my family. I realize I could have thrown together something in no time, but I’m too professional to do that… a good letter takes time to write!!
- Please provide the teacher with a "brag sheet"-- I'm guessing your school probably has a preferred format.
- This is a big one: The easiest, best letters to write are from kids who spend a little time recalling something about the time they spent in my class. So, yeah, it's nice to read of your 98.7 average and all your activities. But I love writing a letter from a kid who includes the story of how they struggled in my class until they realized.... or the kid who loved geometry because it was like a puzzle and he had to pull together seemingly unrelated info.That's stuff I can use to differentiate your letter from the other 34 or 35.