Getting Strong Teacher Recommendations for College Admissions

I recently attended a presentation by several current and former college admissions officers on the use of teacher recommendations in the college admissions process.

There wasn’t any startling information provided by the panel but there was some basic information provided in a format that may be helpful for those of you trying to get the best recommendations from teachers who may not write many recommendations.

The panel indicated that colleges use the teacher recommendations for two basic purposes. First, the recommendations are used to give a perspective on a student’s academic abilities, intellectually curiosity and potential for academic growth.

The second use of the teach recommendation is to share information about the student’s personal qualities and accomplishments.

Communicate the importance of these two issues to the teachers you are asking for a recommendation and you have a much greater chance of getting a strong teacher recommendation.