Teacher Letter

[Anonymous]

Can an applicant to a lower school overcome a lukewarm or poor teacher letter?

[Anonymous]

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Yes. If the child makes a good impression and seems to blend well and the other aspects of the application are strong.

That said, maybe you can supplement with a letter from a teacher who can give a more glowing recommendation to offset the lukewarm letter. I would think that would help as long as you just go back a year and don't go back to when the kid was at a different dev. stage.

[Anonymous]

I would be careful about painting a picture that your child is perfect and that the teacher was unfair in their rec. I might be more upfront and explain that the year has been challenging but your child has made great progress.

[Anonymous]

How do you know what the letter says/will say?

[Anonymous]

I suspect I know based on what was said during the parent-teacher conference.

[Anonymous]

I talked to an admissions director after my child was wait-listed at a school, and s/he told me that the main reason my child was not accepted was the teacher letter, which s/he characterized as "not supportive."

I would take ask for another teacher to write a recommendation so they have something else to consider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I suspect I know based on what was said during the parent-teacher conference.

Do you have reason to believe the teacher mis-represented your child? Or do you just not like what you heard the teacher say about your child? (this is not meant to be snarky...) If the teacher pointed out things in the conference about your child that are valid you should be more concerned that the school you are applying to will be able to meet your child where he/she is and less concerned about creating an image of your child that you think the new school will like.