Our guide to teacher recommendation letters can help.
We meet many college and university admissions representatives, and many of them informally complain about the quality of teacher recommendation letters. The complaints range from a lack of proofreading, including having the wrong student’s name in a letter, to a comment asking if a teacher actually even knows this student.
Here are some helpful hints when reviewing recommendation letters:
A five-paragraph letter should include:
1: The essence of the teacher’s relationship to the student
2: Course content and methods
3: Description of the student as a learner, as a scholar. This is the main purpose of your
recommendation.
4: The student’s relationship with his or her classmates as well as his teacher
5. Wrap-up
The letter SHOULD:
Use the most specific adjectives, and support them where possible.
Stick to academic information from the class.
Show the student’s ability to meet the challenge of college work.
Be carefully proofread.
The letter SHOULD NOT:
Be generic.
Use gender-stereotyped language.
Mention a learning disability or a student’s disciplinary record.
Say the student is “the best.”
Just about every student waives the right to actually read the teacher’s recommendation. The most important advice we can give is to choose the correct teacher to ask for your recommendation and ask early in the process.