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Letters of Recommendation

Letters of Recommendation
When you ask teachers and your counselor for a letter of recommendation, make sure you give them:
  • The Brag Sheet Questions (see below)
  • Your request by November 30th (your application may not be due until January, but teachers and counselors will be on Winter Break just like you)
Brag Sheet Questions
 
Below are the Brag Sheet questions if you want to start thinking about your responses. Below the questions is a pdf of the questions you can download if you'd like. Be sure to talk to your counselor about needing a letter of recommendation and when/how to submit your responses.
  1. What do you plan on majoring in at college, and what are your potential career aspirations?
  2. What is your most meaningful extracurricular experience, and why?
  3. How have you shown leadership skills?
  4. Which courses have motivated you and why? How would a teacher describe you as a student in his or her classroom? Please give examples.
  5. What is your proudest academic accomplishment?
  6. Are there any especially positive experiences that have shaped you as a student?
  7. Describe your hobbies and talents.
  8. The three personal qualities I like best about myself are..... (Give a brief description of each)
  9. What is your proudest personal accomplishment?
  10. In the past 4 years, were there any life circumstances or challenges that affected you?
  11. What has been your greatest contribution to Rowland HS or in the community?
  12. What do you think people would be surprised to learn about you?
  13. Is there any other information you would like to share with your counselor?
Reminders
 
  • How you behave, how you treat your teachers, and how you perform and participate in class will determine what your letter will be like. You write the letter long before your teachers or counselor actually write it.
  • Ask teachers who know you well, not necessarily teachers with whom you earned a high grade. The teacher who writes your letter of recommendation should be able to describe your contributions to the class or among the school community that they have personally observed either as a coach or club advisor, etc. You should also choose a teacher who teaches you an academic subject (e.g. math, science, language, English, or social studies.
  • Remember to write thank you notes to the people who took the time to write your recommendations. A little appreciation goes a long way.
Waiving Your Rights
 
When you ask teachers and your counselor to write you a letter of recommendation, you will be asked whether you agree to waive your rights to see the letter or not. Always choose to waive your rights. While colleges don’t care whether or not you waived your rights, teachers and your counselor might. Evaluators often write very neutral letters when you reserve the right to access the letters. This is self-defeating to you because colleges do not want to see neutral letters.