Letters of Recommendation

1. Letters of Recommendation Jennifer Landy, Wayzata High School Jennifer.Landy@wayzata.k12.mn.us Sharon Rossing, Luther College rossinsh@luther.edu

2. You Make a Difference • Your letter can mean everything or nothing • At highly selective schools, the recommendations are many times the ONLY things that distinguish among highly qualified applicants • For marginal students, your recommendation may persuade a committee to take a chance on the student (if it’s well-written, honest and provides details that can’t be learned from other application materials)

3. What Are Colleges Looking For? • Colleges are interested in the student’s: • Intellectual purpose • Motivation • Maturity • Integrity • Independence • Originality • Independence • Leadership Potential • Capacity for Growth • Special Talents

4. The Quick Snapshot • Overall, the letters of recommendation help colleges fill in the gaps that students so often leave in their application as well as provide more context for academic performance and character traits • Recycled letters are obvious and can even do a disservice. Make each letter as individual and unique as your student. • Be concise. One good page is sufficient. • Proofread.

5. Focus on Specifics • When it comes to teacher and counselor recommendations, colleges want you to SHOW them, not tell them, about the student. • Use specific/concrete examples or anecdotes • Make sure it is authentic and purposeful • Include telling details—try to create a lasting impression and make the student come alive to admission officers • Tell a story about the student • It is really hard for colleges to get a sense of a student and his/her abilities with just a list of adjectives. How does the student exhibit those adjectives? If they are ambitious, how do you know this?

6. The Greatest Thing a Counselor Can Do • Unbridled honesty about a student. Not sugarcoating it. • Anything that might complete a student’s story on their application. Personal stories that help colleges envision the student as a real person. • The strongest letter a college said they had seen was one where the counselor was able to speak about the student’s character as well as what teachers/administrators say about the student. It is evident that the counselor knows the student and can really vouch for the student. • Especially if a counselor doesn’t know a student very well, colleges enjoy when the counselor gathers a couple of thoughts from several teachers/coaches who may know the student better. • The most helpful thing a counselor rec can do that most teacher recs can't, is to give us a more long-term perspective of the student.  How has this student evolved over their high school career?  How has s/he developed socially, academically, maturity-wise, etc? 

7. The Greatest Thing a Counselor Can Do • Anything that can clarify trouble spots in an application, red flags, challenges that a student has faced (with student permission) • Address the student’s overall curriculum (reasons behind the particular course choices the student made, especially if the choices are slightly less traditional.) • Do present the positives yet acknowledge a weakness if appropriate. These are very much appreciated and seen less often than you would think.

8. The Hidden Message • I look forward to talking with you more over the phone about this student. • I would love the chance to share more about he/she with you. Please call me at your earliest convenience Call me!

9. Be Creative/Have Fun • Just like a student’s essay, your letter needs to stand out • Give them a reason to read your letter • Reel them in right away The Sleep Test If you would fall asleep reading your letter of recommendation, then it may need some work.

10. The Basics • Do Your Homework--Collect Necessary Items • Transcript • Test Scores • Activity Resume • Biography form if appropriate • Letter of Recommendation Process • Confidentiality

11. Counselor Letter of Rec Structure • Introduction • Body • Academics • Character • Involvement/Leadership • Extenuating Circumstances • Conclusion

12. Parent Questionnaire • Describe your child’s talents and strengths. • Describe your child’s overall performance and leadership in extracurricular, religious, work and community activities. • Describe your child’s personality. • Describe any unusual circumstances which have affected your child’s education or personal development. • In which areas have you seen the most growth in your son/daughter in the last three years. • Feel free to write a brief anecdote that will help me better understand your child.

13. Parent Anecdotes… • If you had met Cole as a child, you would have seen from an early age that he was a natural born engineer. As his parents shared with me, on Halloween Cole would come home from trick or treating, pour his bag of candy on the floor and then organize his candy by type, size and name.  He would then create a bar graph with the quantities and types of candy collected. 

14. Teacher Assistance • “Isaac is amazing.  He is extremely smart, thoughtful, and respectful.  In Future Problem Solvers (FPS) his team has reached the state competition every year and has earned top honors in various categories.  They have advanced to the international competition twice so far, which is something only about 3% of FPS students ever get a chance to do. Isaac is dedicated, he probably has the best attendance of any FPS kid I’ve ever had.  He speaks up and participates when others don’t.  He is also a good leader he helps the newer students every year.”

15. Teacher Assistance • “Cole was a wonderful student to have in class. He was quiet, respectful, diligent, efficient, worked hard, performed well and had a great understanding of the concepts covered in class. From what I can tell he has great character, is disciplined, organized and intelligent. He worked well with his lab partner and lab group. I loved having him in class.”

16. Catch Their Attention Use the biography form to your advantage and quote the student: • “I don’t take the easy way out of things in school and in life. I always strive to be the best I can be in all areas and I am not afraid to ask for help if I need it.” • “As a first generation American in my family, melding two different sets of values together has been a challenge but it has taught me about my values and enabled me to be open to new ideas and participate in different kinds of experiences.”

17. Catch Their Attention • When Sarah was in preschool she sat her mom down and told her she was done sucking her thumb. Her reason, she needed to set a good example for the other kids. This maturity, awareness of others and leadership she displayed in preschool are shown today in everything Sarah does. Sarah is a dedicated, self-motivated, hard worker who seeks to be the best at all she does. She not only studies for a good grade but because she is genuinely interested in learning the material. She is polite and considerate but is not afraid to speak her mind. She is one of the most poised high school students I have ever met.

18. Catch Their Attention • Rockstar. Without a doubt that is the first word that comes to mind when I think of the amazing Anna. From the first day I met Anna her sophomore year I have been so impressed by how she approaches life. She puts 100% into everything she does and along the way isn’t afraid to ask for help if she needs it. I vividly remember one of our meetings sophomore year. She was earning straight A’s in her classes but she felt she was not being productive or efficient with her time. So, we talked about a number of different strategies she could try and two weeks later she came back with pure excitement in her eyes that she had figured out a system that worked best for her. She celebrates little milestones and big ones; each one with a huge smile on her face and accomplishment in her eyes as if she has just won a gold medal.

19. Catch Their Attention • Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! This word according to the 1964 Walt Disney film “Mary Poppins” is defined as "what you say when you don't know what to say.” This is the word I think of when I think of Jane. It is impossible to come up with adjectives to describe her that will do her justice. While she is intelligent, conscientious, hard working and compassionate, she is so much more.

20. Catch Their Attention • “What does cross country do for the athlete? It builds toughness—both physically and mentally.” Quote by Steve Prefontaine Maybe it’s because I can’t even get myself to run a mile, but I think running cross country is the hardest sport offered at XX HS. No matter the weather, the athletes on the XX HS cross country team are ALWAYS running. It is this sport that has helped shape John into the man he is today.

21. The Student You Don’t Know • I do not know Sarah very well. She has come to me for routine matters, but generally has not had any problems which she has discussed with me. In this large school, I do not always have the time to personally get to know each of my counselees. From the comments I get from Sarah’s teachers, I have the impression that she is one of the strongest students this school has seen. **Example given by MIT. They said they appreciated the honesty so they were not left guessing as to why there was not more in the students letter.

22. The Quiet Student • Rachel is the type of person that people say is too nice. She is always smiling and always willing to help anyone in need. She is a positive person, who always views the glass as half full and who loves to be goofy and laugh at random things. However, many people misjudge Rachel the first time they meet her. She is a rather reserved young lady who takes her time adjusting to new situations. She would rather sit back and observe and be open-minded about what is going on before acting; a quality I truly respect. She has neither interest nor desire to be the center of attention. I think a perfect way to describe Rachel is that I cannot ever see her running for public office, but she may just cure the common cold with her love of science and her ability to look at the world with patience and a fresh lens.

23. Being Specific/Sharing Examples • Sydney is the type of person you would want as your best friend. She is a young woman who is her own person who doesn’t care about being in the popular crowd. Her greater concern is the rights of others and is passionate about feminism and gay rights. Growing up with uncles that were gay, equal rights for all is a strongly held belief in her family. For the past four years Sydney has attended the Gay Pride Parade and various events to show her support. She also recently attended the Human Rights Gala where the goal was to raise money for the Human Rights Campaign which works to create equal rights for those not just in Minnesota but across the nation.

24. Extenuating Circumstances/Difficult Topics • Don’t be afraid to be honest and talk about the negatives. If a student doesn’t have great study habits or hasn’t performed well in high school the college rep will see that. • Try and state specifics about what may have affected their academic performance • Address their potential for growth and maturity • Colleges rely on counselors to bring up difficulties students have faced personally and academically

25. Addressing Negativity • One area I have seen Rachel develop during her time in high school is with her advocacy skills. Rachel doesn’t like conflict and I think early on misunderstood the difference between advocating and arguing. During US History junior year Rachel received a grade on a paper. She was not happy with the grade and was taken aback as all of her previous drafts of the paper she had received an A. Rachel and I talked and I helped her approach the teacher to talk about her paper. After speaking with the teacher about the paper Rachel was awarded an A after she made a few easy edit. Rachel is beginning to feel more comfortable approaching people but may still need some support in this area in college.

26. Transgender Student • John (Jane) is a female to male (FTM) transgender student at WHS.  This process started during his sophomore year and John gave me permission to share this with you in my letter.  Sophomore year John accepted that he felt more like a boy than like a girl and explored what life would be like as a male.  He did research online and talked with his close friends about how they would feel if he decided to live life as a male.  By the start of junior year Jane became John.  His family has struggled with his FTM transition and while his brother and dad have made efforts to support him, John’s mom accepts him, but refuses to neither call him John nor refer to him as her son.  With the start of senior year John seems to have found true comfort in his decision and looks forward to starting college as John XX.

27. Extenuating Circumstances • At the beginning of Jen’s junior year she started to have very severe headaches. The family assumed that they were just migraines and worked to manage the pain. That became difficult as Jen had trouble sleeping and the headaches grew to be stronger and more frequent. Jen and her parents visited with a number of different doctors, each one having their own explanation for what she was experiencing. Jen missed a significant amount of school and her grades dropped dramatically during her junior year. Looking at each grade year by year, Jen earned a 3.19 GPA in 9th grade, 3.33 GPA in 10th grade, and a 2.66 GPA in 11th grade.

28. Extenuating Circumstances • During her junior year, Jane experienced a traumatic event and was referred to me by one of her teachers. Many students that I talk with, and have been through a traumatic event like Jane, tend to shut down and prefer to deal with their situation on their own. Jane used her experience as a way to reach out to others; so during her junior year she started a club at XX HS called SASV—Students Against Sexual Violence. I attended a couple of the meetings and Jane did a great job supporting and encouraging the other students in the group. She was able to find a great outlet to help herself process what she had been through while helping others.

29. Extenuating Circumstances • Sam didn’t have the typical upbringing and had a bit of an unstable childhood. Between 8 moves and mom’s various marriages, they didn’t always have very much money. While her childhood gave her an early dose of reality, through these experiences, Sam learned to appreciate what she has. Sam has taken on much more responsibility at home in recent years, including managing a job for the past year along with her studies. Actually, this summer she juggled two jobs! She knows she'll need to pay for some of her college education, and takes the responsibility of saving for that very seriously. Her work at the movie theater has taught her how to handle tough/stressful customer situations in addition to how to manage relationships with co-workers. While her friend group at Wayzata is mainly students who are white and middle class, she found it refreshing to work with teenagers who had different background, beliefs and ideals. It broadened her perspective and made her look at the world through a slightly different lens.

30. Extenuating Circumstances • What I find so inspiring about Jane is her ability to rise above adversity and remain dedicated to academics at a time when she was struggling personally. Jane has faced a battle with depression, and has remained committed to her friends, family and school work through this difficult time.

31. Twins • I have friends that are twins and have worked with many sets of twins during my time at Wayzata HS. I have never however, found twins that are exactly the same; until now. Nicole and Brooke are mirror images of each year, in looks and in academic and activities. They have lived their lives doing everything together. When they asked me to write them a letter of recommendation for college I challenged them to tell me how they see themselves as different and what they would each want me to stress a little differently in their letter. They both looked at me with big smiles on their faces but looks of confusion and after a couple of minutes of silence didn’t have an answer. Their lack of response made me feel better as I couldn’t come up with anything either.

32. The High ACT but Lower Grades • Paul is an anomaly. His high ACT score makes you wonder why he has a B+ grade point average. Paul is a young man whose academic ability does not correlate with his grade point average. While many high school students fight for every little point in a class, Paul measures his success by what he has learned in class. He strives for mastery and is a fully engaged student but doesn’t view grades as the indicator that he was successful in a class. This is further demonstrated by his score of 5 on the AP Euro and AP US History exams when he only earned B’s in those classes.

33. The High ACT but Lower Grades • Austin is also articulate and logical. He is a quick study and in looking at the gradebook for his classes Austin is a kid who would get A’s and B’s on tests but would get lower grades on his homework due to lack of effort or simply not doing the work at all. While this may be frustrating for some teachers, Austin was a kid teachers enjoyed having in class. His US History teacher shared: “Austin was a nice, polite young man who was also an academic.  He is a bright student who demonstrated an interest in U.S. History.  He interacted with others well and usually participated in class discussion with thought provoking comments.”

34. The Average Student • The one area John needs to work on is his study habits. He has shared with me that he tends to study the material he knows and doesn’t always spend enough time on the material of which he is not as familiar. However, when he struggles he is not afraid to ask for help and is a great self-advocate. • Jane has shared with me that sometimes she is scared to ask questions in class. However, when she isn’t comfortable doing that, she will make a point to stay after school and get help from the teacher. Many times she has worked with other students in class to find the answer.

35. The Average Student • Jane knows she won’t be the top student at whichever college she chooses to attend. However, she will be one of the hardest workers. • Although not all academic subjects have come easily to Jane, she has readily taken a rigorous college-prep curriculum at XX HS, and has succeeded admirably. • One area that John could improve on is his organizational skills. As John puts it, “I am disorganized because I am a guy, and because I have never really had a need for there to be much organization in my life.” However, now that he is a DECA officer and with the rigor of his senior schedule, he knows he needs to be much more organized. He is starting to use more binders and file folders, and just putting more of a general effort into being organized.

36. The Average Student • When I first met Ashley in the fall of tenth grade, she was still coming into her own. She was not a strong student in middle school but the one-on-one help that the alternative program (FOCUS) provided upon enrolling at WHS helped her become more organized with her materials and time. • Ashley is not going to be your top student; she has struggled and may continue to struggle in various aspects of college life. However, she has developed a strong skill base to work through these obstacles. Please give her a solid look as she is someone who is still continuing to grow and is full of potential.

37. Closings • All of the above serves to illustrate John’s excellent abilities, strong work ethic, high level of responsibility, positive leadership and his easy to get along with personality. • Jane is a mature individual who knows what it will take to succeed in life. She will work hard to accomplish her goals, and benefit others along the way. • My hope is that whatever college Isaac ends up attending, they are able to keep his inquisitive passion alive.

38. Closings • Kate is a very mature and serious individual. She has little time for the drama associated with being a high school student. She is curious about the world in a way most kids aren’t – she asks questions and enters into discussions about the outside world in a way that shows she cares about such things. I think Kate sums herself up quite beautifully when we talked about what her most distinguishing trait was; her determination. Kate states she isn’t perfect and often fails; but she always tries harder as a result of these experiences. She also desires to make the world a better place and will be a student who will leave your college a better place upon graduation. She will be a graduate who you will be honored to count as an alum and I fully expect one day her picture will show up on our wall of distinguished alumni.

39. Closings • Personally, there are few like John. His energy and enthusiasm are contagious—people are just happier being around John. He is adventurous and courageous—he will try new things and will put himself on the line for what is right. • Jane is Exceptional. While she is serious, direct and unfailing in her beliefs and views, she has a quick wit, an inherent view of right and wrong and a terrific sense of humor. Her sense of responsibility, kind and considerate nature, and true sense of balance are elements of her personality I will always remember.

40. Closings • What stands about the most to me about Kyla is that she isn’t afraid to be different. She wasn’t afraid to be a member of the marching band despite what other people thought. She will voice her opinion if it is different than others and won’t join an activity just because others are doing it. She isn’t afraid of a challenge feels she thrives as a student in more challenging classes. In the time I have known Kyla I have seen her blossom from a more reserved young woman to a confident self-sufficient young lady. I know college will be the perfect next step and will allow her to continue to grow and reach her full potential.

41. Closings • Please carefully consider John for admission to your school. I believe he is starting to come into his own as a student. He just needs to find the right environment for his interests and talents and he has decided your school could be a great fit. I know college will be the right environment for John and will allow him to mature and find independence. He will contribute in many ways to the academic and social environment of your campus with his creativity and enthusiasm. Thank you for considering him for a place in your fall class.

42. Closings • If you are looking for a student with an exceptional work ethic, a drive to succeed and one who knows how to tackle any obstacle in her way, then you have found your student in Alaina. You will also have a student that always has a smile on her face and that everyone will be fighting over to have as their roommate.

43. The Difference • There is a difference between a COUNSELOR recommendation and a TEACHER recommendation. • The Counselor should communicate CONTEXT: Where the student stands in relation to the high school and community • The TEACHER letter should describe the student as a learner, as a scholar. The teacher is often the only person who can write objectively what the student is like IN CLASS.

44. School Letterhead • Create a letterhead that all teachers use for their letters and can add their contact information

45. Teacher Rec Request Form • Colleges you are considering: • Which class did you take from the teacher selected? When? What grade did you receive? • Why did you select this teacher to write you a recommendation? • What other teachers/individuals are writing letters of recommendation for you? • Think about the class you took with this teacher as a whole. What makes you distinct & sets you apart from the other students in class that the teacher will want to emphasize in your letter? • What was your favorite part of the course you took from this teacher and why? • What was the most challenging part of the class and how did you respond? How will those characteristics make you a successful college student? • What is your intended area of study in college? • Did you complete any projects or write any paper for this specific class? If so, what were they? • **If you have a copy of an old paper or project you completed for this class please turn it in with this form to help refresh the teacher’s mind on what you specifically worked on in their class. • Is there any additional information you feel the teacher should include in their letter?

46. Teacher Recommendations • Make sure letter includes: • Your relationship to student and briefly your credentials • Evidence of Intellectual Ability • Skills—Written and oral expression • Talents • Character • Work Ethic **Specific Examples are imperative

47. Questions for Teachers to Ask Themselves • What is the nature of your relationship with the student? • How easy or how strict are you as a grader? • Did the grade you gave represent what was learned? • If you were a college professor, would you be eager to teach this student? • Why or Why Not?

48. Make Sure Teachers Can Answer…. • Questions to think about before you write the letter. • What distinguishes this student from other students? • What kind of learner is the student? • Did the student do any special projects for class? • Was the student prepared and did he/she actively participate in class? • Did the student go above and beyond what was required for the class? • What did the student add to the class on a day-to-day basis? • How does the student compare to others you’ve taught over the years?

49. Format for Teacher Recommendation • First paragraph: State that this is a letter of recommendation for the specific student, your affiliation with the student and for how long you have known the student. • Second paragraph: Academics. State the types of assignments, projects, or other experiences you have shared with the student. Discuss who they were in class. • Third paragraph: Personality. Give details, with specific examples, of the student’s skills, talents, abilities, personal qualities, and accomplishments. Concentrate on several different aspects of the student. Particulars count! • Fourth paragraph: Summarize how you think the student would do in college. Stress the potential of the student and why he or she is qualified. Provide information about how you can be contacted.

50. Colleges Want.. • How the student reacts to academic challenge • Cite the students drive, ambition, motivation, resilience • How often does the student lead discussions, contribute, or offer a view that clarifies? • How well does the student work with others? • How often do you see a high level of curiosity or intellectual drive?