Who To Ask To Complete The Teacher Evaluation Or Recommendation Forms
As for who to choose for teacher evaluation/recommendations, think about the teachers with whom you have developed the best relationships. Here are some clues as to who that might be:

• In whose classes have you received the best grades, performed in some unique or outstanding way, or been seen as “the star pupil?”

• Which of your teachers from freshman year on has been particularly complimentary of you and your work?

• Have you been asked by one of your teachers to be a teaching assistant?

• Has any teacher sponsored you for a special program or award?

• Is there a teacher with whom you love to talk, discuss or debate, both in and out of class?

• Is there a teacher for whom you have completed an especially good paper, independent project or demonstrated great curiosity or imagination?

• Can you think of a teacher for whom you have performed particularly well in a class that is related to your future major in college?

Formula To Determine Who To Ask
To begin with, check each application carefully to see if it has directions for what kinds of teachers they want to complete your teacher recommendation forms.

After that, a good way to decide which teachers to ask is to brainstorm the names of potential recommenders with a parent. After you have come up with a few names, based on what kind of recommendation you think a teacher will write, assign each a number from 1 (terrible) to 10 (the best!). Once you have numbers for each teacher, then circle the ones with the two highest scores. They then become your choices.

FAQ #2: One of my applications says that I need teacher recommendations from different disciplines. What if my strongest ties are with teachers who are both in the sciences?

ANSWER: College admissions staffs want students to follow their directions as closely as they can. If you have a number of quality people from a variety of disciplines (e.g., sciences, social sciences, humanities, arts) who are available to write letters, by all means ask a science teacher for one and an English, Spanish or History teacher for another. The recommendation rule of thumb, however, is always go with the strongest recommenders, regardless of their discipline. If you don’t follow college
directions regarding a recommendation, be sure to send an email or note explaining why.