A number of years ago there was a kid who posted regularly on CC who was very highly motivated to attend college, but had horrible test scores. (Absolutely dismal - way below median scores for any selective colleges). He also needed financial aid & was focusing on CTCL types of schools – many posters were quite dismissive of his chances. But he actually got accepted to a bunch of colleges --almost all that he applied to – with sufficient financial aid to allow him to attend. He shared with me a LOR that a teacher had written – and it was no surprise to me that he was excepted, given the very positive recommendation.
No one claimed that the kid was “exceptional” – nor did he need a LOR to establish that – but he was passionate about his interests; self-motivated; hard-working; an eager and active class participant; and active in a sport as well as a time-consuming EC tied to a potential major or area of study in college.
That’s the point of a LOR to ANY selective college. The GPA and test scores told one story, the LOR told another.
It is not at all a waste of time for teachers to write LORs for those kids. If anything, it’s probably a lot more important that those kids get the benefit of LOR’s, because they don’t have the easy path to a great college that the kids with the amazing stats who are applying to mega selective colleges have. These are the sort of kids where that LOR can make a huge difference. Because sometimes kids who have imperfect academic records have great potential, and that’s what a LOR can reveal.
I’m sure there are many other kids who have benefited in similar ways – but the example above is the only situation other than my own kids where I’ve actually seen the LOR.
Maybe it should be the other way around. The “exceptional” don’t need more help – it’s the kids with the rough edges who benefit most from holistic admission considerations, and where the opinion of a teacher might actually make a difference in admissions.