Teacher's rec error

Prep School Admissions
1

I know that I’m not the first person ever to have this issue but I need help in going about how to solve this.

There was an error an one of my teacher’s recommendation letter. How can she fix this?

I don’t think that she can unsubmit it so would she have to call the school? And if she were to call the school, would they allow her to fix the error?

I’m applying to both Exeter and Andover by the way.

2

I’d suggest you contact the AOs for those schools, inform them that the teacher made an error and would like to fix it. Ask them how the teacher can do so (direct communication between teacher and AO via email or letter, resubmitting the whole LOR, etc). They will provide the only answer to your question that matters - the CORRECT answer.

3

@Altras Thank you, will do. Out of curiosity, have you ever experienced this or something similar to this?

4

Yes. We had an office staff person at my son’s school who was new (and fired by the end of the year) who completely botched sending the correct transcripts…multiple times. We just kept in close communication with the AOs, explained, apologized and it eventually got worked out. I don’t think these things are uncommon. Just respect the AOs’ time/attention and present yourself as a problem solver, NOT a complainer.

5

@Altras how did you know the incorrect transcripts had been sent? Is there a way to check this?

6

We figured on a high probability of this particular person messing them up. We asked her to send us a copy of the exact transcripts she sent to the schools. She kept sending the wrong years (including elementary grades), wrong grades (incomplete/incorrect 1st trimester grades, then 2nd trimester grades which were incomplete/incorrect and never needed to be sent), and several other problems. In the end, we had to send a screen capture of his correct grades to the BS office staff or AOs to cross-check with what they had and be sure that everything was correct. It was a bit embarrassing to say the least, but it all worked out. The AOs were all very understanding. I got the sense that they were used to dealing with far worse.

Specific advise regarding the transcripts:

  1. Make sure to not request them to be sent until the first trimester/semester is truly complete. You don’t want them to think your child got that B, when in fact they nailed the final exam that was worth 50% of the course grade and got an A.
  2. Maker sure your school does NOT send incomplete 2nd trimester/semester grades. You don’t want the AOs to mistake those for complete grades (not so much of an issue for schools on a semester system). The transcript should say nothing or “in progress”, instead of a C-, because the entire grade to that point was only based on a homework assignment that your child turned in late.

One last comment that should go without saying - be super nice to the BS office staff! Not because it gets you somewhere to do so, but because they are working very hard to help you and your child through the challenging application process. If you feel like you need to vent, do so to your parents, friends, spouse (for parents), etc.

7

@Altras Thank you for your help