A few private colleges such as Columbia University, Georgetown University and many public universities have their own applications and sometimes their own recommendation forms.

While it is unwise to brag about yourself on applications, it is totally appropriate, if not essential, for other people to sing your praises as persuasively and with as much detail as they can.

SOPHOMORE & JUNIOR YEAR TIMELINE FOR ASKING FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

Grades 10 and 11 are a time when you should be developing relationships with teachers and your high school counselor. Sooner than you think, some of these people will be writing important college recommendation letters for you.

A part of any good education involves teachers and…

• Taking the time to do well in courses, but also letting teachers know how much you appreciate being a student in their classes, their particular teaching styles or special actions they have taken.

• Regularly talking with teachers you like and forming personal relationships with them.

• At Christmas (and/or other holidays), as well as at the end of the school year, sending teachers and your counselor a greeting card or email note. If it feels right, you might also give them a token gift of appreciation.

• Common sense says that people who know and like you will write better letters of recommendation than people who barely remember your name.

End of Junior Year
For both public and private school students, the end of your junior year is a good time to ask favorite teachers to write letters of recommendation for your college applications. Popular teachers often get overwhelmed with recommendation requests and, therefore, sometimes limit the number of recs they write. For this reason alone, it’s smart to ask people about recommendations before schools ends, ahead of the rest of the pack.

Know that some teachers like to use their summer vacation to write letters of recommendation.

adMISSION POSSIBLE® TIP! Admissions officers pay a lot of attention to the teacher and counselor eval- uation/recommendation forms; they are very important parts of the application package. This is even more the case in two circumstances:

1) Among Ivy League and other highly competitive schools, recommendation letters are one of the few distinguishing factors separating one outstanding applicant from another.

2) For applicants whose grades and test scores are less than optimal, very strong recommendation letters can sometimes make the difference between getting accepted or being put on a wait list or denied.