Why are 4.0s rejected?

aunt_bea
Sat, 02 Jul 2016 09:13:09 +0000

If the school uses LOR’s and the student picks the wrong person then, the LOR can make an adcom think twice about admitting a 4.0.
We had a smart-aleck-type kid, about 15-20 years ago, ask a popular math teacher for a letter of recommendation at our school.

The student liked this teacher since the teacher was smart, funny and very organized in his teaching style. From what I heard, the teacher tried to have the student ask someone else; saying that he was behind in his letters, and that it might be better to go with someone else, who could meet the time deadline. The student insisted that he wanted this teacher’s recommendation.

So the teacher wrote up a LOR.

The 4.0 student and parent sued the school district claiming that the student didn’t get into the right colleges because the LOR, sent in by the teacher, didn’t praise the student enough and the kid’s life was ruined forever.

The LOR apparently was a list of the kid’s activities and grades, with the teacher indicating that he had known the student for a couple of years. What was later revealed in court was that the kid was not a nice kid. He was smug and mean. He was always in the VPs office dealing with disciplinary issues and Dad had rescued and condoned his child’s behaviors.

The math teacher indicated, that the student was always late to class and tried to be a class clown, often interrupting the teacher. So the teacher wrote a letter that was basically a list. No other coach or teacher had written any letters. The coaches told the courtroom that they were glad they hadn’t been asked to write a LOR.

The Judge came back and said that the admissions people had a right to choose whomever they wanted.

After the case was thrown out, the school district required waivers.