Teacher only writes “elite” students college recommendations

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So how are B+ or even average students to obtain recommendations? You can ask the students to prepare a list of accomplishments, and I’m sure you have a template for recommendations. Ridiculous to try to put forward the notion that you are drafting each recommendation from scratch. Do your job.

I DO draft each rec from scratch. They are very clear that this is what is needed: detailed, show that you know the student, not cut-and-paste. A neutral or cut-and-paste letter of rec is not useful at best, damning at worst. You really don’t know how this works.

Teachers should be obliged to write recommendations for even mediocre or poor students.

Why, exactly? It dilutes credibility for the teacher and for the high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.

There have been a lot of other people posting. I am summarizing again my opinion and adding some additional context and caution.

I thought a recommendation process offered by a teacher in a core subject added unnecessary stress to the college app process. Teacher has students apply for recommendations prior to the end of their junior school year and told them she makes decision midsummer after AP exam results come out. She tells them not to contact her before AP results to get any sort of feedback. A student with an A average and a 4 AP score (like my child) is likely to think they will be recommended. If the teacher generally only takes 5s, I think the teacher should explain that on her app. Alternatively if my child was never going to be recommended, why not tell my child immediately rather than having them wait until the middle of the summer? That’s my fundamental issue.

Most teachers close their app deadline at the end of the students junior school year. Fortunately, my child asked three teachers (just in case) the one didn’t pan out.

I appreciate the teachers who have chimed in to hear how much work these recommendation letters are. Going to a strong school, it’s very possible my child was 1 out of 100 students who scored 4 or higher on the exam with that teacher and perhaps 70 or more of them asked for recommendations so maybe she’s overwhelmed.

For parents who have kids that go to schools where everyone is a high performer please be cognizant that your kid may not get the wanted recommendation if your kid isn’t a superstar in a core area due to overwhelming workload of the number of recommendations these teachers get. Be incredibly thankful for the ones willing to write a recommendation letter.

I agree with teachers only being wiling to write recommendations for kids who they think are genuinely good students worth recommending, but basing whether to write a recommendation on their AP score is insane.

That makes no sense to me. There is a college for every kid. So you might not recommend a kid to Harvard but maybe you would recommend him to a non flagship state college.

What teacher would not recommend a kid to any college? I thought teacher were supposed be about growth. We are talking about teenagers.

Teachers do write letters for students applying to non-flagships. I wrote above that I’ll accept about 50 requests a year. That’s my cap because that’s what I can reasonably get done over the summer and still have time for my own family and our annual vacation.

Those 50 aren’t necessarily the top students. They are a combination of students who asked on time, followed my instructions for a request, and demonstrated consistent effort in class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So how are B+ or even average students to obtain recommendations? You can ask the students to prepare a list of accomplishments, and I’m sure you have a template for recommendations. Ridiculous to try to put forward the notion that you are drafting each recommendation from scratch. Do your job.

I DO draft each rec from scratch. They are very clear that this is what is needed: detailed, show that you know the student, not cut-and-paste. A neutral or cut-and-paste letter of rec is not useful at best, damning at worst. You really don’t know how this works.

Teachers should be obliged to write recommendations for even mediocre or poor students.

Why, exactly? It dilutes credibility for the teacher and for the high school.

What does such a rec look like?

"Larla demonstrates the ability to be in class on time. Larla turns in most work in a satisfactory manner." Damning with faint praise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If they didn’t have a limit they might be writing over 100 recommendations.

Students just signup in naviance for a recommendation and then don’t even bother to talk to me about it. Really rude from a teacher perspective.

My personal rule is that if you use your phone in class too much I will refuse to write a recommendation. Repeated lateness, behavior, grades all affect my interest in writing a recommendation or giving retakes. I want to see sustained effort and ability. Anything short means no recommendation.

This is fair

[Anonymous]

Any teachers on this thread have any ideas on how to deal with an ADHD kid? He also has other issues (and 504) that prevent him from always being engaged in class. Will likely have a 3.9 GPA and 1500 SAT. Does he not deserve to go to college because you won’t recommend him?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any teachers on this thread have any ideas on how to deal with an ADHD kid? He also has other issues (and 504) that prevent him from always being engaged in class. Will likely have a 3.9 GPA and 1500 SAT. Does he not deserve to go to college because you won’t recommend him?

Who says we wouldn’t recommend him? I’ve written plenty of recommendations for students with IEPs and 504s.

Teachers are capable and intelligent people. I am able to read your son’s 504, understand how what I read may play out in the classroom, and then write a glowing recommendation based on what your son individually achieved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any teachers on this thread have any ideas on how to deal with an ADHD kid? He also has other issues (and 504) that prevent him from always being engaged in class. Will likely have a 3.9 GPA and 1500 SAT. Does he not deserve to go to college because you won’t recommend him?

Why would you assume that your kid doesn’t deserve to go to college based on a DCUM thread? Weird.

You know there a multitude of factors that determine if college is appropriate and then what college and program. Not all colleges required recommendations as well. If your DC needs a recommendation for anything in their life then they need to advocate and understand the expectations like all other students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a HS teacher who writes recommendations. I’m sorry but the teacher described in OP’s post sounds nuts. I would never base my recommendation solely on the AP score. If 100 kids are asking you, there are other ways to shrink down the number of letters you have to write. And if I’m not writing a letter for someone, I make sure to tell them right away or within a few days

Another AP teacher here. I don't do this, but perhaps the teacher doesn't feel comfortable "picking favorites" so shrinks her numbers with an objective measure. That doesn't sound nuts to me. But I can usually identify the people who will get a 5 in advance anyway. Maybe there are 1 or 2 surprises in the group.

[Anonymous]

OP this thread is long and I've not read the whole thing at all.

My DD got an A and a 5 in AP Bio this summer. Her teacher will write her a glowing recommendation letter but she won't write one for anyone who got a B and a 4 or lower.

That's her policy.

[Anonymous]

I'm a teacher. What this boils down to is that teachers have the right to write or not write letters of rec for any student, as they wish. Most teachers are going to write letters if asked. But they don't have to. And honestly, they don't have to give a reason. If they want to only give it to students who meet certain criteria, that's their choice. If a student is going to college, they should think about which teachers they might want a rec from ahead of time, approach that teacher and ask what their criteria is, and then decide if they are going to meet that criteria or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child is at a high performing school and it appears that a core teacher think English or Math only writes “elite” students college recommendations. How common is this? It appears she only recommends students who score 5s on the AP exam and lets students know after AP exam results whether she will recommend them.

Teachers are not required to write recommendations. It is not part of their contract. If that teacher will not write a rec for your student, then ask another. If you find a pattern of teachers not wanting to write a rec for your child, I wonder who is the problem, the student or the teachers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If my child could not obtain recommendations for college I would contact the principal, the superintendent, and the school board. This is a basic duty and the idea that teachers can pick and choose has civil rights implications.

🙄

Sure, Jan.

People are so entitled. I hope the teacher makes an exception and writes a recommendation. One that your kid deserves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any teachers on this thread have any ideas on how to deal with an ADHD kid? He also has other issues (and 504) that prevent him from always being engaged in class. Will likely have a 3.9 GPA and 1500 SAT. Does he not deserve to go to college because you won’t recommend him?

I'm a college professor, and we also get plenty of requests for recommendations for internships, summer programs, study abroad, grad school, law school, jobs, and lots of other things. My main reasons for not writing (and me not writing is actually quite rare) include a student doing lower and lower quality work as the semester progresses, rather than improving; a student behaving in generally irresponsible ways, missing deadlines, or cheating; or a student asking for a letter when they have never actually exchanged a written or spoken word with me outside of class (and often inside of it, as well). I don't need my students to be perfect in order for me to say good things about them. But they do need to show me that they are trying.

[Anonymous]

A letter of recommendation is a gift from the teacher. They don’t have to give gifts to everyone. At any time they can stop giving gifts all together.

[Anonymous]

Colleges should demand SAT scores, AP scores and other metrics of impartial and quantifiable appraisal. AND they should not need college recommendations.

Teacher recommendations are biased and racist.