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How to Ask for a Letter of Recommendation for College
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# How to Ask for a Letter of Recommendation for College

College admissions experts offer advice on how to get the strongest recommendations from the best sources.



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Sept. 18, 2023



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Sept. 18, 2023, at 8:00 a.m.

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Obtaining high-quality letters of recommendation takes time and planning.

Letters of recommendation from teachers, school counselors and other sources can help college admissionsofficers get a more complete picture of applicants.

They give admissions offices a "third dimension" as to who students are as individuals, says Peter Wilson, dean of college admissions at the University of Chicago in Illinois.

"They tell us what a student is like and how they perform in their classroom and overall community," Wilson says. "They tell us how a student would interact with their peers, so they’re giving us a sense of, when you come to our campus, how are you going to interact with our faculty and what are you going to be like in a classroom setting?"

While just one part of the college application process, it's an important one, experts say. Recommendation letters play a bigger role than many students might think, says Richard Tench, a school counselor at St. Albans High School in West Virginia.

"This really paints the bigger picture," he says. "When admissions looks at files, everyone’s going to have a transcript. Everyone is going to have extracurriculars. But those only speak so far. I think those personal stories and those stories of perseverance or their true passion that come out in the letters are what set (some applicants) apart."

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Obtaining high-quality letters of recommendation usually doesn't happen overnight – it takes time and planning. Understanding the role that recommendation letters play in the application process can help students plan properly and avoid common pitfalls, experts say.

Here's what high school students need to know about how to ask for letters of recommendation for college applications.

## Whom Should I Ask to Write Letters of Recommendation?

Admissions officers generally want to see letters of recommendation from high school teachers and counselors. But some colleges have more specific requirements than others. For example, the University of Chicago requires two letters of recommendation from teachers in "academic subjects," which include: "mathematics, social studies, history, science, English or literature, foreign language, and other courses in which you are doing substantial amounts of reading, writing, or class discussion," according to the school's admissions website.

Generally, students can include letters from elective teachers if that teacher and class are aligned with what they plan to major in, says Colleen Paparella, founder of DC College Counseling. For example, a student planning to major in vocal performance might seek a letter from the choir teacher, or a student planning to study art might request a letter from the art teacher.

A college's website will usually spell out the exact requirements for letters of recommendation.

When it comes to letters of recommendation from teachers, students should approach the instructors with whom they have the best relationships, experts say. Ideally, this is someone who knows them well and can speak to both their academic and personal strengths.

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It's important that students consider the context in which the recommender knows them, says Geoff Heckman, a school counselor at Platte County High School in Missouri.

“For instance, if you’re asking me as a school counselor to write a letter for you, it’s probably going to be about your academic promise, your integrity in the school, those pieces," he says. "But if you’re asking somebody like an employer, they’re probably going to be writing it from the perspective of your work ethic."

Students should also make sure they're asking recent teachers for recommendations, meaning those who taught them during the second half of high school. Typically, colleges are looking for recommendations from 11th grade teachers because they've most recently been with the student for a full academic year before applying, experts say.

"By the time an admissions officer reads the letter it’s going to be midway through 12th grade, and the teacher from 9th and 10th grade is going to seem really far away and it’s going to be a red flag," Paparella says. "It’s going to look like they didn’t have somebody more recent to ask."

A student with a part-time job may consider asking his or her manager for a recommendation, and athletes may think about asking their coaches, says Steven Roy Goodman, an educational consultant and admissions strategist in the District of Columbia. Such recommenders may be able to discuss some of a student's strengths that aren't as evident in a classroom setting.

## How and When Should I Ask for Letters of Recommendation?

Students should generally ask teachers and counselors for letters of recommendation in person, Paparella says.

At some high schools, students can request counselor recommendations online. And "many faculty members are very happy to schedule a Zoom call who weren't comfortable with that before the pandemic," Goodman says. "That's helped in some ways."

No matter the method, students should be respectful and request letters of recommendation well before an application deadline. Giving teachers, counselors and others ample time to write usually results in stronger recommendations.

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Heckman encourages students at his high school to ask for recommendations in late spring or early summer of their junior year. This will give teachers and counselors time to work on a recommendation before seniors inundate them with requests midway through the fall.

Once students ask a teacher or counselor to write a letter of recommendation, they should allow at least two weeks for them to complete it. That gives everyone a fair amount of time to compose a well-written letter, he says.

Another reason not to procrastinate: Some teachers will commit to writing only a certain number of recommendations each year. Students who wait too long to ask may encounter teachers who have already hit their limit.

“Earlier is always better in the college process," says Eric Sherman, a premier college counselor for IvyWise, an educational consulting company. Another result of procrastination, he says, is that letters tend to be more general or shorter because teachers don't have as much time to be thoughtful.

"That’s not necessarily a red flag, but it can raise an eyebrow with admissions offices," he says. "It will essentially not hurt a student, but it might not help them in a way that it could have."

## What Makes a Good Recommendation Letter?

Even if students have strong, yearslong relationships with their teachers, experts say it's important not to assume they'll know what to include in the recommendation. Teachers are likely writing letters for other students as well, so preparing a list of things for them to write about will aid the recommender's memory and their writing process.

Sherman says students should supply information about a project or an assignment that was particularly impactful or important to them so that the recommender can address that.

Doing this can be the difference between a good letter and a bad letter, Paparella says.

Successful recommendation letters are descriptive, personal and complement the application rather than being redundant, Sherman says.

Students should welcome the opportunity to list all of their accomplishments and qualities for the recommender, Heckman says.

"Really go over and above in talking about all of those characteristics that you possess," he says. "If you’re willing to say, ‘Hey, I think this is something that’s great,’ and I think it is, too, then together we can write a great letter.”

High schools may have a system to help with this process. Some counseling offices, for instance, ask students to complete a questionnaire to request a letter of recommendation. Heckman says students at his school fill out a Google form that gives recommenders direction on their letters.

“There are times when students want certain areas highlighted about them that you may not be as familiar with," Heckman says. "At times it’s necessary to know everything that a student is involved with so that you’re not only writing about what you know about that student, but also the other things that they want given attention to as well."

If a high school doesn't provide a questionnaire, Paparella says she asks students to answer some generic questions and give the answers to their recommenders.

Questions and answers for teacher recommendations should focus on the student's class performance, while questions and answers for counselors should focus on "more of a holistic view of a student," she says.

Paparella provided some examples, written from the teacher's or counselor's perspective.

### Teacher Recommendation Questions

### Counselor Recommendation Questions

She encourages students to provide as much information as possible to give recommenders enough to write a strong letter.

## How Many Letters of Recommendation for College Do I Need?

The number of recommendations you will need depends on which colleges you are applying to, so check admissions requirements online.

Paparella says students should obtain two letters, regardless of whether the schools they're applying to ask for them. If students decide later during their senior year to apply to a school that requires them, already having those letters in hand can be crucial, she says.

"It’s better to have them and not need them than to scramble at the last minute to get one," she says.

In addition to what's required, some colleges give applicants the option to submit supplemental letters. It makes sense to ask for an additional letter if it can tell the admissions committee something new about a student, Goodman says.

If a school is test-optional, Goodman says, recommendation letters "are something that admissions officers can hang their hats on," so submitting supplemental letters could be beneficial. "There’s no substitute for somebody being able to talk specifically about your particular interaction with them and their particular interaction with you."

However, schools vary on the number and type of supplemental recommendations they will take. For example, some may accept supplemental letters from clergy and coaches, while others have a more limited list, Paparella says. Some won't take any. Students can find that information either on the Common App or the school's website.

Even when applying to schools that accept several letters, Paparella says it's best to be selective about what you send.

"You have to make sure that the person submitting this is sharing totally new information above and beyond what's already been shared by the counselor and teachers," she says. If they can add something, then it's probably worth sending. "But beyond that, I would say no more than one additional letter from any third party unless it's a very unique situation."

## How Do I Submit My Letters of Recommendation?

Students generally don't submit their own letters of recommendation. Teachers, counselors and other recommenders usually send them in electronically via whichever application platform a student is using, such as the Common App.

If it's getting close to the deadline and a recommender hasn't submitted a letter yet, Goodman says students should ask if the person needs anything else to complete the recommendation. This approach is more polite than saying, "I asked you three weeks ago and you haven't done it yet and the deadlines are coming up," Goodman says.

Though it won't have a direct impact on the admissions process, Wilson says he strongly recommends students write a thank-you note to anyone who writes them a recommendation letter.

“We want those types of students in our community,” he says. "I don’t think (students) realize what a big role (these letters) have in our process. When you have 40,000 applicants, teacher recommendations are one of the ways that you can stand out in the process."

## What Is an Example of a Good Letter of Recommendation?

For some students and recommenders, it may be helpful to see what a strong letter of recommendation looks like. Paparella shared the following example of a letter written by an employer for a fictitious student to highlight aspects of a good letter.

### Introduction

The introduction provides a strong "general, overarching assessment" that highlights three different characteristics of the student such as "her incredible initiative, her unparalleled care for the customers, and her fierce dedication," Paparella says. It also establishes the author's credibility by stating he regularly works with teenagers and has a good frame of reference, she says.

"The key here is that it doesn't have a paragraph about his own background," she says. "I see this way too often with teachers in particular - they share a whole paragraph about their own background or the course material. The admissions officers don't care about this at all and assume it's just filler because the teacher doesn't have enough to say about the student.

### Body Paragraphs

The body paragraphs elaborate on the characteristics mentioned in the introduction and contain several specific examples and anecdotes that help the recommender make their points, Paparella says.

"Very little space is dedicated to assessing the student. That already happened in the introduction," she says. "Instead, it is chock full of supporting information that would allow an admissions officer to agree with that initial assessment independently after reading it."

### Conclusion

The conclusion ties it all together. "It describes how the organization is different because the student took part in it, using quantifiable information," Paparella says. "It also describes how the organization will be impacted after the student leaves for college and why this will matter."

Updated on Sept. 18, 2023: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.

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