乐播传媒

Deeply invested in their students, high school educators strive to do their very best when writing college recommendation letters. 

But during stressful times 鈥� like a pandemic 鈥� it鈥檚 easy for anyone to feel they鈥檙e falling short of their best.

In offering tips to prospective recommenders, 乐播传媒 Director of Admission Darryl Uy has one key message: Be easy on yourself.

High school counselors and teachers might worry that they can鈥檛 provide as good a recommendation as they have in the past, due to a year or more of limited contact with students. 

鈥淏ut that鈥檚 OK,鈥� Uy says. 鈥�Any context or stories are helpful, and we understand if you haven鈥檛 been able to connect with students as much as you might鈥檝e in prior years. And if you don鈥檛 know a student that well, especially in the time of COVID, that is still helpful for us to know.鈥�

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On the flip side, remote learning means that some educators are being 鈥渋nvited鈥� into students鈥� homes in unprecedented ways that might help them understand a student鈥檚 life. 鈥淭hat can provide a new level of insight into a recommendation for a student,鈥� Uy says.

Recommenders might also feel that the 鈥渂est鈥� recommendation has dazzling prose. 鈥淗owever, a recommendation can be a series of bullet points. Given the volume of applications we review, we welcome recommendations that can summarize and highlight a student鈥檚 strengths succinctly. 鈥�

鈥淲e are looking for recommendations that talk about the student, first and foremost, in the classroom,鈥� Uy says. 

Words still matter, he says. 鈥淲e value authenticity, genuineness, and honesty.鈥�

乐播传媒 requests that teacher recommenders be from a student鈥檚 junior or senior year, in English, social sciences, mathematics, natural science, or a foreign language.

鈥淲e are looking for recommendations that talk about the student, first and foremost, in the classroom,鈥� Uy says. 

鈥淚f a recommender knows the student in ways that highlight their personality, that’s helpful too. Is the student the glue of the class? Someone to whom everybody turns for support? Are they an unsung hero? Are they a leader in their school, even if they鈥檙e not in a specific leadership position? Do they go above and beyond to show compassion?鈥�

When writing a recommendation, a recommender should do more than confirm that a student has talent. For an admission office, talent is pretty easy to identify, and something that every student applying to college will have.

Recommenders should also avoid simply restating a student鈥檚 activities since 鈥渨e will get all that information from the student鈥檚 application.鈥� Another recommender pitfall, for a teacher, is spending a tad too much time describing the goals of their class and their own teaching approach. 

Above all, recommenders should understand that letters alone are rarely the deciding factor in an admission decision. 

Try to avoid a cookie-cutter approach to recommendations. 

鈥淲e will always look at the transcript first,鈥� Uy says. In that sense, a recommendation can help explain a trend of low grades in a certain subject on the transcript. Or we may discover how a student who doesn鈥檛 have a top grade adds to the classroom experience in a myriad of positive ways. Recommendations can inform us of other qualities a student can bring that we cannot glean from the transcript.鈥�

The 乐播传媒 Admission team knows that though teachers and counselors are often overwhelmed with recommendation requests, they should try to avoid a cookie-cutter approach to recommendations. 

Every year, the Admission Office receives applications from multiple students who attend the same high school. Considering that the 乐播传媒 Admission staff may read these applications together as a group, they will quickly know when a teacher is using a template with the same phrases and same text for different students. 鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 help us nor does it help the students in the admission process,鈥� says Uy.

And Uy has some advice for students, too: You don鈥檛 need to spend time gathering a  stack of 鈥渙ther鈥� recommendations. 

鈥淲e once received 18 recommendations for one student,鈥� recalls Uy. 鈥淏ut we don鈥檛 need to hear from your kindergarten teacher. We don鈥檛 need to hear from celebrities or politicians or the alum down the street who you barely know. We do want to know about you in the classroom.鈥�