Who do you really need to get recommendation letters from? Does it have to be a school board member or can it be just someone who knows you well and can put in lots of compliments? Also, how would u get those FABULOUS rec letters from teachers…im student-teacher relation challenged =(
<p>One of my teacher recs was awesome because I had her for science since 3rd grade, and I have had her for every biology-related high school class…and I worked 3 hours a day with her on my research project. It just came natural to ask her for a rec lol. </p>
<p>Just remember not to be a robot in class. Associate with teachers and classmates. Your success in life will depend on your relationships with your peers and employers.</p>
<p>Many colleges will be quite specific about whom your three recs should come from (for instance, “one from math/science teacher, one from English/humanities teacher, one from guidance counselor”). Almost all schools expect that third one to be from your GC or principal, and will accept a fourth recommendation from someone with whom you’ve had significant, meaningful interactions: a third teacher (might not be workable in your case, if you’re “student-teacher relation challenged”), a work supervisor, a Boy Scout leader with whom you worked on your Eagle Scout award, the director of a community service project you’ve participated in… but no more than four: after that, many schools start tossing them straight into the circular file. Letters from a school board member or Senator or movie star would only be useful if you worked with them in some significant way. Colleges don’t care whom you or your family know and what nice things they can say about you: they care what you’ve done with yourself and how those you’ve worked with describe your characteristics. </p>
<p>Schools are not interested in “lots of compliments”: letters like that can be full of air and fluff. They would like the letters to be credible, insightful, and supportive of aspects of your character that will appeal to the schools and demonstrate that you will be a positive part of your college class. And don’t <em>collect</em> the letters ahead of time: when it’s time to apply, your recommenders will usually send their narratives directly to your colleges, to avoid any possibility that you may see, and influence, what they write. (Providing a one-page summary of your accomplishments for your recommenders is sometimes a good idea.)</p>
<p>I think if you search this board a bit, you’ll find several detailed discussions of this topic that might be helpful. (This one in particular might be helpful: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=34489[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=34489</a>)</p>
<p>The key seems to be to get a rec letter from someone who truly knows you and your character. Someone who can describe an example of you overcoming an obstacle in your life or a moment in your academic or personal life when that <em>light bulb</em> inside your mind and heart lit up the brightest.
Someone who can validate what you have written on your application or in your essays, or can ADD to what is inside your application. Someone who can speak to your <em>human</em> side and not to just the GPA and test score stats. </p>
<p>The rec letter process can seem a little scary sometimes, especially when a student doesn’t have a strong, positive relationship with a teacher or GC, so also consider someone outside of school, i.e. someone familiar with your ECs or your life outside of school. I spent so much time at the public library when I was a kid (the bookmobile came to our neighborhood every Thursday) that I considered asking one of the reference librarians who knew me to write a letter.</p>
<p>And this is even scarier. Don’t automatically assume that all teachers and GCs know how to write. I have been in a position to review rec letters. It is amazing how many people in the education system are extremely poor letter writers. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>