Signed, Sealed, Accepted: How Letters of Recommendation Shape College Admission

While college-bound high school students are busy focusing on earning good grades in rigorous classes and prepping for admissions testing, there is another factor that affects their chances of admission, that can become an afterthought for some students: Letters of Recommendation (LORs). Many students don’t consider this requirement until they are completing their Common Application and for some, are taken off guard when a school’s supplement page lists their requirement for one or more recs. Waiting until the fall of senior year to address this can have a negative impact on the overall strength of a student’s application.

Consider this: the goal of the college applicant is to piece together a coherent picture of who they are, what motivates them, and why they would be an asset to a college campus. In doing this, they are choosing activities throughout high school that align with their interests and strengths, which they will list on their Common Application. In their essays, they are carefully choosing what to highlight to present the best version of themselves, a version that aligns with the activities they have included. Ideally, the student’s transcript will also corroborate their academic prowess and intentional course selection to add to the applicant narrative they are thoughtfully presenting. If they are submitting test scores, those may also track with the academic picture the student is depicting. Admissions officers are taking all of this in and formulating a vision of who the applicant is. And then they get to the letter(s) of recommendation, anxiously seeking validation of the unique, promising teenager they have learned about through the other parts of the application, from an objective adult who knows the student well and can provide further affirming insight into their character. In a perfect world, all of this comes together as such. So, like all other aspects of the application, letter of recommendation planning is as important a piece in the mosaic that becomes a complete application.

The colleges that require recommendations tend to be the more selective schools that employ holistic admissions, and their requirements vary widely. Some may want a counselor recommendation only. Some want one or more teacher recs only. Others want both. Some will allow more teacher recs than what they require. Here are some suggested strategies to assist with any of these possibilities:

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Get to know your school counselor. The letter he or she writes will encompass your overall involvement or impact at school, along with character traits. They can also explain any extenuating circumstances that may have had an effect on your education. Many counselors ask students requesting letters to complete a “brag sheet,” outlining what they have accomplished in high school. This will allow them to address any participation they may not otherwise be aware of. But it’s challenging to write about character when the student has had minimal contact over the years. So visit with your counselor once in a while. Ask their advice on what classes to take for your field of interest or other college admissions-related questions, or for help in working through a personal issue. When you visit with them, demonstrate the character traits you want them to write about – maturity, respect, intellectual curiosity, leadership, being collaborative, empathetic, and/or generally demonstrating a high emotional IQ.

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Teacher recommendations provide insights to you as a classroom citizen. Most applicants use junior year teachers as they are the most recent and will have had the student for a full year in class. At least one recommendation should be from a core teacher, preferably in a subject related to the college major of choice (i.e. Engineering: math or science teacher). Additional teachers may be from elective classes and if allowed, students may send what is called an Other recommendation, which is someone from outside the school environment, to include coaches, employers or adult mentors other than family members.

As with the counselor rec, we want the teacher to corroborate the character traits the student is promoting in other aspects of the application, and as a general rule, to include in their observations that the student comes to class prepared, participates, contributes to the objectives of the classroom, is respectful of classmates and teacher, and shows curiosity toward the material presented. In short, we want to choose teachers with whom we have a good relationship and have performed well in their class. What’s the best way to ensure we have one or more teachers to fill the bill? BE that person we want them to write about. Go into junior year with the mindset that you will likely need one or two of the teachers that year to write a letter, and give them positive material to write about. What we want to avoid is senior year rolling around and being at a loss for who can write a positive letter, a letter that may help move the application to the YES pile.

Planning ahead and developing a strategy for this could be a difference-maker when competing against other qualified applicants.

When should we ask for letters? Either in the late spring of junior year or shortly after school starts senior year. We want to give our recommenders time to write the best letter they can, and not have to add it to the crunch-time list in October, or worse yet, be too late and risk the chance of the teacher declining the request.

When does an applicant know if they need letters? A college’s admission page lists all requirements that rarely change year to year, so this information can be found at any time. Students may also start a Common App account anytime, add schools and find the requirements there. But be careful not to complete the school’s questions until after August 1st prior to senior year, when the app rolls over to the next school year, removing any completed school questions.

Colleges want more from students than the ability to handle the curriculum, they want productive, positive additions to their student body. Letters of recommendation are a key piece to instilling confidence in the applicant’s likelihood of fulfilling this mission.