Which teachers should I ask for a recommendation from? How should I ask?

Applying to College
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Hi! I am a junior and I am planning to ask my teachers soon (finals are at the end of next week so I’m trying to be quick!) to see if they can write my letter of recommendations for me. I am not sure how to go about this process. Which teachers are best? Also, how do I… ask them? Is it weird to just randomly go up to them? Also, should I consider senior year teachers too? Here is some other information:

Intended Major (most likely to least likely): Neuroscience, mathematics, or economics
Pre-med route!

Just a note, I’m not a very talkative/open person so I can’t say that I’m really close with any of my teachers. I will greet them and have light conversation, smile at them in the hallways, etc., but I don’t really ~know~ any of them. I’ll just give my thoughts on them in case something I say reveals more about the teacher!

Junior year classes (all AP except French)

Calc: One of the classes I struggled with and worked extra hard in. I’m extra proud of my grade and the effort I’ve put into this class. I think this is my favorite teacher. They’re amazing at teaching, quirky, sweet, really tries to get to know their kids to some extent. I think math is my strongest/favorite subject, even if this course was incredibly stressful for me.

APUSH: Easy, I maintained at least a 95% all year round. It’s not exactly a super interactive class and the teacher mostly lectured at us. There was only about three kids in my period who actually participated–I was not one of them. They’re a super sweet and bubbly person, and I like that they tried her best to engage us in APUSH even though it was a very dry class.

Lang: The teacher is definitely passionate about what they do and is generally kind (at the least, respectful) to their students. I feel like they’re pretty observant. Known as the harsher (fairer?) grader among the English teachers, and I maintain around a 93% or so average on papers. Again, I don’t talk to them, and I know for sure that they’re closer to other students in my period since they talk more regularly.

Physics: This class also kicked my butt, but the curve and weight of the tests are structured in a way that you can still manage an A- in the class with a B- test average in the class. Thus, I don’t feel as proud of this grade as in Calc, but I still worked hard. I rarely participated. I feel like there are other people in the class who talked more and really showed their intellect in doing so.

French: Super easy, I maintained at least a 97% all year. The teacher is very quirky and sometimes (all the time) goes on tangents completely unrelated to French. However, it’s usually very informative and very ~real world~. They are understanding of students and the stress they go through, and will accommodate if necessary. I am a part of the French Honor Society that they run and will have them for senior year too.

Government: Super easy, 97%+ in the class. It’s only a one-semester class, but I’ve known this teacher since sophomore year since I am an officer for a club that they run. (If it matters, I’m currently VP for that club and likely will be prez next year.) They are very talkative and tell a lot of stories, and generally easy to talk to if I feel like it. I think they also do a lot to get to know their students and to be a personal, approachable teacher.

Senior year classes
Of course, I don’t know any of my teachers yet, but I know for sure that my math teacher will be the same as my sophomore year math teacher. Thus, he will have known me for longer. Again, I didn’t really talk to him, but I was a good student. I will also have my French teacher again senior year.

My current choices are my Calc, Gov, and Lang teacher, but I am not sure.

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You can send in as many recs as you see fit right? So get these from your teachers now and be open to getting recs from senior teachers that you really get along with. You seem to be very proud of Calc and enjoy the teacher, so I think that would be a good choice. Gov also sounds great bc the teacher knows you well. The rest of the teachers don’t seem as close to you but if you still need a rec, Lang is usually a good choice bc the teacher is such a great writer to begin with and knows that they work you really hard. It’s a difficult class and the teacher knows that the ppl who get As are hard workers.

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You can send in as many recs as you see fit right? So get these from your teachers now and be open to getting recs from senior teachers that you really get along with. You seem to be very proud of Calc and enjoy the teacher, so I think that would be a good choice. Gov also sounds great bc the teacher knows you well. The rest of the teachers don’t seem as close to you but if you still need a rec, Lang is usually a good choice bc the teacher is such a great writer to begin with and knows that they work you really hard. It’s a difficult class and the teacher knows that the ppl who get As are hard workers.

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Thanks for your input! Does anyone have any other advice?

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Every student asking for recs should ask the teacher(s) whether they can write a positive letter for you. This is always appropriate, phrased politely of course. For example, “Am I a student you would write a strong letter of reccomendation for, or do you suggest I ask someone else?” Don’t argue or question why if the answer is ask someone else, simply to thank the teacher for their honest answer.

While it can be uncomfortable for a student to ask a direct question like this to a teacher I would never assume a teacher will write a positive rec. In “The Gatekeepers”,in which a NY Times reporter followed the admissions committee at Wesleyan for a year, is a real-world example of a bad rec. Obviously when the student asked for a rec she assumed it would be positive, but here is what she got:

This could have been avoided if the teacher had been asked if they would write a strong rec. The student did not get in.

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I like what @mikemac said. You can also ask Fresh or Soph teachers if you were able to connect with them. One of my kids was able to have a coach/teacher write an excellent rec letter - they were able to write about working hard in class & on the field. And any teacher that can write ______ was The Best Ever at _______ is worth talking to! :slight_smile:

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A few comments:

  1. Agree that you want to ask a teacher if he/she can write a positive recommendation for you. If he/she says yes, first say thanks and then ask if you can give them anything (ex. resume if you have one, list of activities etc.) to help him/her write the letter.

  2. Send no more than two teacher recommendations. If you have a third LOR (not at all necessary) it should be from someone who knows you in a non-academic setting (ex. a coach, boss, clergy etc.)

3)In terms of teacher LORs, it is often good to have one STEM and one humanities. Think about how knows you best as a student and a person. You might ask your guidance counselor for his/her advice – they sometimes knows who writes good LORs. And it is OK to have one soph.year teacher if you feel he/she knows you best.

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Agree with @happy1, but I would like to add a few more points

  1. Be careful about asking recommendations from freshman/sophomore year teachers - Many schools specifically ask for teachers from either Junior or Senior year.
  2. How to ask for recommendations. I think @mikemac is giving you good advice. Most junior/senior year teachers know that students will ask them to write college recommendations. You're not the only person who is going to ask them. My kid knew the three teachers he was going to ask, but he still sat down with each one of them and talked to them about which colleges he was looking at, why he was applying to them, what he wanted to pursue in college, and so on.
  3. IMHO, in an ideal situation, the recommendations from the teachers should not send essentially identical messages.
    Teacher 1: Mangoeslover works really hard and is a great person.
    Teacher 2: I enjoyed having Mangoeslover in my class. Diligent and pleasant.
    You miss the opportunity to show different sides of yourself.
  4. My kid can also be described as "not overly talkative/open" as well, so I understand where you're coming from. Nonetheless, I would recommend that you make an effort to let your French and Gov teachers get to know you better through the extracurriculars you mentioned - show them who you are as a person outside of class. It will make their recommendations more personal and authentic.
  5. Is there a specific reason you would ask your Lang teacher? You wrote, "I don't talk to them, and I know for sure that they're closer to other students in my period since they talk more regularly." It doesn't sound like you're very confident that they could write a good rec for you.
  6. Lastly, you may want to think about the reliability of the teachers. At my kid's school, there is an incredibly popular AP English teacher. Every year, some of his best students ask him for recommendations. And every year, he waits until the very last day to write their recommendations. A few years ago, he dropped the ball completely because he thought he had until November 1 for Oxford. He gives students ulcers. If this type of teacher is going to write you a stellar recommendation, then you should obviously go with them, but if you can avoid it, you may want to do so.
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Thank you for responding everyone, this is really helpful! :slight_smile:

@Shrmpngrtz I’m considering my Lang teacher because although we are not close, he seems to be a very fair and understanding teacher. I think he would know me well as a student. But, I’m probably not going to end up asking him, to be honest.

Also, someone told me that I should ask my physics teacher because I am considering a neuroscience major. Would that be a good idea? I participated only a few times in class, and I can definitely name students they would write better recommendations for (people who put themselves out there more, asked questions, genuinely enjoyed and had a strong understanding of physics, etc).

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Furthermore, I do not have a solid college list yet. I have a spreadsheet of about 25, a narrowed list of 15, but I do not know any schools that I am applying to for sure. Should I have a working list when speaking to the teacher?

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@mangoeslover So, the physics teacher question is a bit tricky. You are considering a neuroscience major, but I don’t think your ECs reflect that, right? IMHO, students who list three prospective majors in three completely different fields are called “undecided”. Many applicants seem to think that being undecided is automatically a negative. It’s not. Undecided because you are clueless, lazy and/or apathetic is bad, but that doesn’t sound like you.

With that said, have you looked at a Common App teacher recommendation? You should. Fair warning though because it’s a little intimidating. My son freaked out a little when he first saw it, because it forced him to rethink his plans for teacher recs. Duke has a sample one from a few years back on its admissions website.

http://admissions.duke.edu/images/uploads/process/teacher_evaluation.pdf

After looking through it, ask yourself - who is going to do the best job filling it out? Those are the people who you should consider asking first. I think an excellent recommendation from one of your other teachers will always be better than an average Physics rec even if you do decide to take the neuroscience path. That’s just my opinion though - perhaps others can chime in.

Regarding your college list, most kids don’t have a final list in May of their junior year. So that’s pretty normal. To be clear, my kid asked for recommendations his junior spring, but then went to talk to each teacher in September. I apologize if that was confusing. By then, he knew exactly which colleges he was applying to one ED, one EA, 5 RD. Personally, I think it helped a lot that he had his list set when he talked to his teachers. He had done a lot of research on his schools and could really articulate why he liked each school. His math teacher was excited to talk to him about the math programs at the various schools; his FL teacher was thrilled that he was applying to Middlebury; his music teacher talked about music opportunities in Chicago. He got to talk about his passions, and it helped them to get to know him better as a person.

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@mangoeslover maybe you could have a sheet prepared to give the teacher so they know a bit about you? Our school asks the student to fill this out to help the teacher. My son is more on the quiet side as well. He recently asked his English teacher for a rec even though he is looking to go the STEM route. He just felt he had a better connection with her than the math and science teachers. He walked up after class and asked her if she would mind writing a teacher recommendation. They didn’t go through a whole list of colleges although she did ask briefly what schools he is interested in. She ended up writing a wonderful letter!

My point being, IMO I would go with your instincts on which teachers you feel would give a strong recommendation. You could even ask them if they would want a sheet with basic information on activities, leadership positions, etc. if they don’t know you very well. My guess is they would welcome it. Also don’t forget to write a thank you note later and teachers always appreciate a small token (we use Starbucks or similar gift cards). It takes a lot of their own time to write recommendations. Good Luck!