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over my 4 years of high school i have never really become close with teachers of my more "academic" subjects. for my letters of recommendtion, would it be better to get one so so rec. from a bio teacher n whose class i got a b and an a, or a glowing recommendation from my ap music theory, in whose class i got an a and a+?
thank you
dyan

By Dadster on Wednesday, September 04, 2002 - 10:08 pm: Edit

I'd go with the teacher who can write the best recommendation that really shows your unique characteristics. Many schools require at least two recommendations, so it would be good to have at least one from a solid academic subject. All in all, though, a glowing, interesting recommendation from a music teacher would probably be better than a generic "fine student, hard worker" recommendation from a bio teacher.

By Serebour on Tuesday, November 05, 2002 - 02:56 pm: Edit

I need help with some recomendation letters to a reserch program

By William P. Hardin on Friday, January 10, 2003 - 08:44 am: Edit

My daughter, Cora-Jean, is a German-American, who has resided all her life in Dusseldorf, Germany and will be graduating this June with an IB diploma, an unadjusted GPA of 3.6 or 3.7, which many colleges adjust upwards toward a 4.0, at the International School of Dusseldorf and an ACT of 30.

A large financial aid package is an absolute necessity for us, so Cora has applied to a wide range of eight schools (Washington U. at St. Louise, Emory U., the U. of Richmond, Pepperdine, the U. of Miami, Presbyterian, Eckerd and Wingate). My income is about $70,000 a year and I shall have two daughters in college next year; the second daughter will be returning to Presbyterian College. I am in the process of coimpleting the FAFSA and College Profile.

I have suggested to my daughter that she should apply to another school to increase her scholarship chances. We just looked at Trinity University and Elon Univerrsity, for example, but there are compications which seem to rule out both of them. Trinity requires written recommendations and my daughter does not feel that she can go back to her teachers to ask for extensive reports on her again, as they have already done so much for her.(Although she has not been allowed to see the recommendation which are on hand in the high school office, my daughter would like to use them again.) The deadline for the top scholarships at Elon, which only requires an easily obtainable recommendation from the high school counselor, has already passed or is too soon, I don't remember which.

Do you have any suggestions? Should we just relax and see what happens or keep looking for another good possibility in the mid-range of Cora's target schools?