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Is it vital that the two letters of rec come from one history/english teacher and one math/science teacher?

I have a great one from my english teacher, but don't know if i should ask any science and math teachers since i've gotten a B in each of their classes at least one semester (soph and junior year).

I have only one real option: My AP phys teacher from junior year who I also had a JV tennis coach sophomore year. He would write a good letter of rec about my personality (since he gave me a leadership award for tennis), but I recieved a B+/B for both semesters of his physics class (which is better than most kids). My one saving grace is that I passed the AP test (our school had less than a 50% pass rate and I skidded by with a 3). Oh, and I didnt complete all of the hw in the class second semester, it didnt make a difference in my grade but I think it made a difference to the teacher.

The grades aren't exactly solid compared with the straight As I've gotten in history and english.

Should I ask another history/english teacher or just go ahead and get one from the physics teacher?

They're for stanford, northwestern, and possibly cornell and UPenn where I'll apply as a russian studies major and plan to do a double major in russian studies and premed.

By Neo (Neo) on Sunday, September 07, 2003 - 03:53 pm: Edit

Pre-Med isn't a formal major. You've still got to have an independent major; the pre-med is just the term for the guidance directors that'll help suggest extra classes for you to take to keep you on track for applying to med school in four years.

But I'm sure you already knew that.
By the way, you only need one recommendation for Northwestern.

By Andrey1225 (Andrey1225) on Sunday, September 07, 2003 - 04:46 pm: Edit

I know premed isnt a formal major but some applications have an option to specify interest in it along with other majors (like stanfords).

And you didn't answer my question, should i go with the physics teacher or get another rec from a english/history teacher whos given me better grades?

By T2opine (T2opine) on Sunday, September 07, 2003 - 10:10 pm: Edit

In my opinion a good teacher to ask is someone who really knows you well, which may not necessarily be one who gave you an "A."

By Neo (Neo) on Sunday, September 07, 2003 - 11:55 pm: Edit

Ditto on what T2opine said. For example, I had an Anatomy and Physiology teacher last year that I absolutely loved, and I'm sure she felt it too, because I was always grinning from ear to ear whenever I walked into her classroom. But I got an A in the class 1st semester, and for some odd reason, dropped down to a B- avg. for 2nd semester. However, when she told me that if I got a perfect score on the finals, I could just manage to pull it up to an A. Needless to say, I took her on.

Now, if I were to ask her for a rec, do you think she'd be inclined to mention how my grades slipped for a quarter in her class, or instead talk about how glad I was to be a part of her class, and how I aced the finals when the chips were down?

In other words, go with the teacher whom you bonded with the most during the previous year. Regardless of whether you recieved an A or a B in their class.