Question about recommendation letters for college

[clh2]

For all of you parents of the college crowd:

My DD is a junior in high school. Her pre-calc teacher is retiring at the end of the year (Thank you Gov. Walker - but that is a whole 'nother thread)

DD has heard that now might be a good time to request letters of recommendations.

My question(s) are - is it too early to request letters of recommendations? Do letters of recommendations need to be personalized? or can they be generic?

If anyone could give me a little guidance - I would be very appreciative!
TIA,
clh2 and my DD

 

[Cinderella94]

Senior in HS here . I asked 3 teachers for letters of rec. I gave each of them a list of the 6 schools I planned on applying to. Two teachers wrote the name of the school in 6 different letters, and one teacher just printed her generic letter 6 times. I got in everywhere I applied, so I feel safe in saying either way is fine if she doesn't know where she's applying yet. Just ask for multiple copies (be safe) so the teacher can sign it multiple times (rather than your DD making copies herself).

ETA--Oh, not sure what you meant by "personalized" or "generic," but each of my teachers wrote mine about ME, personally. Definitely not generic. It could be generic in the sense that it doesn't say "University of Blablabla: " at the top though.

 

[hj0519]

Definitely not too early. My high school had us ask one teacher at the end of junior year and one teacher at the beginning of senior year. If you want them to be considered strong letters, then yes they should be personalized to your kid and not generic.

 

[trip]

The student gets to handle the letters of rec? At our high school all recs are funneled through the college counselor in our guidance department. She then sends them to the colleges that the student applies to.

 

[Cinderella94]

The student gets to handle the letters of rec? At our high school all recs are funneled through the college counselor in our guidance department. She then sends them to the colleges that the student applies to.

My school suggests this, but I preferred to do it all myself. My school's counseling dept isn't known for being on the ball with those sort of things.

 

[wintershawl]

The student gets to handle the letters of rec? At our high school all recs are funneled through the college counselor in our guidance department. She then sends them to the colleges that the student applies to.

I was going to say that as a teacher, I normally do not give the recommendations directly to the student. I either send it to the Guidance Department or directly to the college. Some of the places I have worked for have required to have the school send it out, and they keep a copy of the recommendation on record. I think this is to "cover my bum."

But, it doesn't hurt to ask the teacher for it. Each school/teacher may have a different policy on how recommendations are handled.

 

[Sadie22]

It is never too early to ask for letters as teachers gets lots of requests and may need time and reminders to get the job done by any deadlines. Although some letters were required to be sent to some programs directly or on special forms, most letter writers gave copies to my sons also. The more personalized, the better.

 

[clh2]

OP here - I hope I can explain my comment on the use of "generic" in my post. I would absolutely hope that the teacher would write a genuine, sincere letter of recommendation. THe "generic" comment was related to the school, i.e. could the teacher write it for use for all admissions applications, vs just for "Harvard" only. Hopefully that makes sense!

My DD is not a "generic" kind of kid - so hopefully the teachers can attest to the fact that she is a true snowflake!!! (I'm sorry - I just couldn't resist!)

 

[Abbie]

My kids' letters were all handed to them to include in their packets. Some were personalized with the name of the school and were later adjusted to be used for scholarships. I don't think it would be an issue to have the teacher just reference "your university" (as in Johnny would be an asset to your university). Perhaps the teacher who is retiring could draft the letter on his home computer so it could be easily personalized next year when your DD has a better idea of where she will be applying.

 

[Cinderella94]

My kids' letters were all handed to them to include in their packets. Some were personalized with the name of the school and were later adjusted to be used for scholarships. I don't think it would be an issue to have the teacher just reference "your university" (as in Johnny would be an asset to your university). Perhaps the teacher who is retiring could draft the letter on his home computer so it could be easily personalized next year when your DD has a better idea of where she will be applying.

That's a great idea. Ask the teacher for an email address that they'll still be using next year and just have DD say something like "I don't know where I'm applying yet, so I don't need the letters yet, but I just wanted to give you plenty of time to write it..."

 

[collegejunkie]

i would ask now. tell your DD to take a copy of her essay(s), resume, "fact sheet" (what she wants to major in, hobbies, anything she wants to have highlighted in the letter), stamped and addressed envelopes, and anything else she may want to send along (this might mean forms directly from the school's websites). she should request a short meeting with the teacher to talk about these things and to make sure all is well with her materials. to deal with the whole send through the guidance counselor thing, you could have the teacher sign the back of the envelopes once they are sealed so you can tell if they've been opened. i think this also takes care of the generic versus specific problem because it's all about your DD and it should be able to cover all bases regardless of the schools she applies to.

it might be a bit annoying because your DD may not know where she wants to apply yet, but i would still have the teacher sign the back of envelopes and your DD can stamp and address them when the time comes. if this is the case, i would ask for more copies than you intended just so you don't end up short.

hope that helps!

 

[Cinderella94]

anything else she may want to send along (this might mean forms directly from the school's websites).

That's a great point that I completely forgot about- definitely ask for an email address so she can keep in contact with this teacher once she knows where she's applying--every school I applied to had a form that they wanted the teacher to fill out in addition to the letter of recommendation.

 

[golfgal]

My school suggests this, but I preferred to do it all myself. My school's counseling dept isn't known for being on the ball with those sort of things.

A LOT of colleges won't accept recommendation letters sent from the student-too easy to "say" they are from a teacher. In our school the kids request the letter and they get delivered to the counseling office to go off with the packet of information THEY send to the school.

OP, NOW is the time to get these letters. She will be applying to schools as soon as August/September and won't really have a chance to get a recommendation from her senior year teachers.

 

[daisyduck123]

A LOT of colleges won't accept recommendation letters sent from the student-too easy to "say" they are from a teacher. In our school the kids request the letter and they get delivered to the counseling office to go off with the packet of information THEY send to the school.

It did work for us, and these are some wonderful schools that DD applied & got into: Penn State (main campus), U of Delaware, U of Md.

I guess it's really hit or miss with the schools.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

However you do it certainly get them now & find out the requirements for each school. At this point hopefully your dd has her short list of colleges she is applying to anyway.

Good Luck!

 

[cabanafrau]

Now is absolutely the time for HS juniors to be gathering their letters and other information for their packets.

 

[agnes!]

The student gets to handle the letters of rec? At our high school all recs are funneled through the college counselor in our guidance department. She then sends them to the colleges that the student applies to.

I was going to say that as a teacher, I normally do not give the recommendations directly to the student. I either send it to the Guidance Department or directly to the college. Some of the places I have worked for have required to have the school send it out, and they keep a copy of the recommendation on record. I think this is to "cover my bum."

But, it doesn't hurt to ask the teacher for it. Each school/teacher may have a different policy on how recommendations are handled.

A LOT of colleges won't accept recommendation letters sent from the student-too easy to "say" they are from a teacher. In our school the kids request the letter and they get delivered to the counseling office to go off with the packet of information THEY send to the school.

OP, NOW is the time to get these letters. She will be applying to schools as soon as August/September and won't really have a chance to get a recommendation from her senior year teachers.

DD's high school won't let the students see the application packets. They handle the official transcript (raised seal, taped/sealed envelope, signed on back by counselor) plus the counselor's recommendation plus the teachers' recommendations.

agnes!