Who to ask for a rec?

Transfer Students
1

<p>I’m torn on who would be the best person to write me a rec. </p>

<p>I want to apply to Rensselaer for computer science. I’ve already been accepted into another school that I would be happy to attend, but I have to push off my plans until Spring for financial reasons. I figured since I have to wait anyway I may as well apply to Rensselaer since it is where I really want to go (I didn’t apply before because I couldn’t pull together the various fees: app fee, CSS profile, etc). </p>

<p>These are my options and I think they would all write me really good letters:</p>

<p>Calc I teacher who asked me to be his TA next semester (and I will be TAing for)
Computer Science teacher, a really smart woman who has recommend me to tutor the beginning c++ class
My boss in the math center where I have been a math tutor for over a year</p>

<p>Since I haven’t taken a class from my boss she may not be the best choice. On one hand I think my math teacher would be best because I have taken two classes from him and will be working directly with him next semester, on the other hand I am applying to computer science so maybe a comp sci teacher who is fond of me would be best. Is it okay to send two if they only ask for one?</p>

2

<p>I would do the Calc prof for 3 reasons:</p>

<ol>
<li>subject-matter-wise, calc is not too far off from computer science.</li>
<li>your CS prof may be intellectually capable of writing a well-written/thoughtful recommendation, but you are not being judged by the writing skills of your professor. from the way it sounds, your calculus prof is more likely to write a glowing letter than your CS prof.</li>
<li>all things being equal, a strong recommendation from a professor in CS is more valuable than an equally strong recommendation from a professor in, say, spanish. so to some extent, the subject matter they teach is important. But in my opinion, a good recommendation from your CS prof is less valuable than an outstanding one from a calc prof.</li>
</ol>

<p>For what it’s worth, I applied to schools as a chemistry major, and I got into UVA and UNC (both out of state) with one recommendation from my Core Humanities professor</p>

<p>hope this helps, best of luck</p>