DD was refused a letter of recommendation based on something dumb

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Her absences were excused but the teacher probably wasn’t happy that sports and a vacation took priority over her education.

Exactly. You don’t have a right to treat high school as the lowest priority and then get upset when people call you out on it.

Hmmm, I'm not sure missing some school for other things means it is the 'lowest' priority. I mean, the kid still studied enough to get an A and presumably attended most of the year.

Hmm again. Missing the class means it's not that important to her. "I can get an A in your (stupid) class without even being there." Disrespectful to the teacher and to other students. I don't see why she would even expect a good letter from the teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Her absences were excused but the teacher probably wasn’t happy that sports and a vacation took priority over her education.

Exactly. You don’t have a right to treat high school as the lowest priority and then get upset when people call you out on it.

Hmmm, I'm not sure missing some school for other things means it is the 'lowest' priority. I mean, the kid still studied enough to get an A and presumably attended most of the year.

Hmm again. Missing the class means it's not that important to her. "I can get an A in your (stupid) class without even being there." Disrespectful to the teacher and to other students. I don't see why she would even expect a good letter from the teacher.

If MCPS, she could have had a 89.5 during one quarter and a 79.5 the second quarter and get an A in this teacher's class. Let's be honest about what As mean today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers are really nasty at times and quite full of themselves. They never want to encourage/help kids and it is really sad. Writing that letter would not have hurt the teacher. Have come across some really nasty teachers in DDs school as well

So are you under the impression teachers should write recommendations for every student who asks us?

My name and my reputation have value to me. I will not recommend students who routinely display rude behavior. I won’t recommend students who cheat and don’t grow or learn from it. I don’t recommend students who routinely fail to meet class expectations (and yes, attendance is one of them).

And since I write dozens a year, which takes me almost a full week of —unpaid— labor, I do feel I have the right to be a bit selective.

[Anonymous]

Excused or not, she wasn't an active member of the class because she was absent. Your fault for deciding that travel was more important than school.

And computer science principles is not a rigorous class or one that should be a significant part of her application.

[Anonymous]

She missed classes to travel and play her sport? Yeah, she wasn't taking the class seriously. You know damn well that you gave carefully crafted reasons to get those absences excused by the school. The teacher didn't excuse them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD asked her AP Computer Science Principles teacher (from last year) to write her a letter of recommendation. She is applying to very selective colleges as a computer science major, so as you can imagine, this letter would have been an important part of her application.

However, the teacher said she would not be willing to write it since DD missed class a lot last year. Due to a combination of her sport, a family emergency, and travel, DD missed a significant amount of school in her junior year, but all her absences were excused and she explained this to the teacher. I'm really surprised the teacher would act like this- we are at a large public (not magnet). DD got an A in the class and is obviously passionate about the subject, and thought the teacher liked her. It's really surprising, and not fair.

DD was counting on this letter, and she doesn't know who to ask and what to do. Any advice? She is getting a letter from her AP Comp teacher as well, but it won't be strong since that's not her favorite subject.

Why was DD counting on this particular letter when it doesn’t sound like she and the teacher are close or have a good relationship? Our kids always asked teachers they had a strong and positive relationship with so they knew the letters would be favorable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers are really nasty at times and quite full of themselves. They never want to encourage/help kids and it is really sad. Writing that letter would not have hurt the teacher. Have come across some really nasty teachers in DDs school as well

So are you under the impression teachers should write recommendations for every student who asks us?

My name and my reputation have value to me. I will not recommend students who routinely display rude behavior. I won’t recommend students who cheat and don’t grow or learn from it. I don’t recommend students who routinely fail to meet class expectations (and yes, attendance is one of them).

And since I write dozens a year, which takes me almost a full week of —unpaid— labor, I do feel I have the right to be a bit selective.

PREACH!!!!!

I am a parent, not a teacher. The hubris of the OP and daughter is stunning. An absolute lack of self awareness.

[Anonymous]

My kids aren’t even comp sci focused, and I know that recs from AP calc, AP comp sci programming, and physics teachers would be much more valuable than AP comp sci principles, which is basically comp sci for non comp sci oriented students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD asked her AP Computer Science Principles teacher (from last year) to write her a letter of recommendation. She is applying to very selective colleges as a computer science major, so as you can imagine, this letter would have been an important part of her application.

However, the teacher said she would not be willing to write it since DD missed class a lot last year. Due to a combination of her sport, a family emergency, and travel, DD missed a significant amount of school in her junior year, but all her absences were excused and she explained this to the teacher. I'm really surprised the teacher would act like this- we are at a large public (not magnet). DD got an A in the class and is obviously passionate about the subject, and thought the teacher liked her. It's really surprising, and not fair.

DD was counting on this letter, and she doesn't know who to ask and what to do. Any advice? She is getting a letter from her AP Comp teacher as well, but it won't be strong since that's not her favorite subject.

She missed class for a family vacation and a sport and you think that the Teacher is wrong to not write her a letter of recommendation? Seriously? She might have done well in the class but the Teacher is looking at her absences as an indication of her priorities, a sport, and her families priorities, a vacation. He might very well like her but she did not show the Teacher that she is committed to her education.

The final grade is not everything. Missing class for the reasons given is not a good look. Her Teacher did her a favor by saying no and not saying yes and writing her a lackluster recommendation.

[Anonymous]

That's a valid reason to not give a recommendation. Obviously.

[Anonymous]

All of your posts are very descriptive and imaginative. Plus the parentheses are always appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Travel” isn’t a valid reason to miss class as a junior in high school. I wouldn’t recommend her either.

Yeah this is on the parents not the teacher. If you didn’t prioritize your child’s education, why should the teacher.

And the teacher did you a favor by declining instead of saying what they really thought.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jesus Christ.

I don't think He gives letters of recommendations. Just sayin.

[Anonymous]

You do not know the reason the teacher said no. Just go get a rec from someone else.

For all you know, your child is a pain in class despite having the A.

Just because you have a teacher does not mean they must provide a rec letter. This is extra work, and teachers are not paid extra to write them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Her absences were excused but the teacher probably wasn’t happy that sports and a vacation took priority over her education.

Exactly. You don’t have a right to treat high school as the lowest priority and then get upset when people call you out on it.

Hmmm, I'm not sure missing some school for other things means it is the 'lowest' priority. I mean, the kid still studied enough to get an A and presumably attended most of the year.

Hmm again. Missing the class means it's not that important to her. "I can get an A in your (stupid) class without even being there." Disrespectful to the teacher and to other students. I don't see why she would even expect a good letter from the teacher.

If MCPS, she could have had a 89.5 during one quarter and a 79.5 the second quarter and get an A in this teacher's class. Let's be honest about what As mean today.

Would be interesting to know how she did on the AP exam.