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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I wish these worked like references on a resume.  Pick 2-3 teachers to be your "references", and if you're a borderline kid in February the AOs reach out to your recommenders and ask for commentary.  For the majority of kids that are clear yes's or no's, there's no need for a response.[/quote]

But by that time it will be 9 months since the student was in that teacher's class (if they aren't currently in a class with same teacher in senior year). [b]Unless student was one of a kind, teacher may have less to say a year since student was in their class.[/b] If only teachers could get two weeks off at the end of the school year (at the end of student's junior year) to write LORs![/quote]

You're not wrong, but I'm going to be honest... Unless the student is one of a kind, I don't have much to write in recommendation letters even when I write them in June.  "The child was a strong (class) student, managed their workload responsibly, was kind to those around them, always on time for class. They wrote polite emails, participated well in class, and notified me if they were going to be out so they managed their workload outside of class too." Throw in an anecdote about how they one time did xyz, the end. The average kid is not passionate about my subject, they just want a good grade. They aren't unique, highly analytical thinkers who go above and beyond in my class, they just follow directions well and do what it takes to get an A or a B.

I try, but unless your kid has made a real effort to talk to me, it's hard to differentiate.  A set of checkboxes having me rate the kids on various things from a scale of 0-100 would probably do just as well. (That I would agree would be more accurate in June than the following year.)

I really do try. I talk to the kid about what they remember from my class (not much), any anecdotes they'd like me to include (rarely do they have one), or any adjectives they'd like me to include (always "hard working").  We brainstorm ways to incorporate their strengths, I write every letter from scratch, but an average nice kid gets a pretty cookie cutter letter.

And I don't want to write them in June. About 50% of kids who ask for them in May/June never follow through with the application, or end up applying to schools that don't need them. I never write any of them until my name shows up as a recommender.[/quote]

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