TEACHER RELATIONSHIPS

DEFINITION OF TEACHER RELATIONSHIPS and the admissions process
From freshman through senior year, aside from family members and friends, there is no one with whom high school students spend more time than teachers. While some large, state universities do not require any teacher recommendations, many colleges ask for at least one, if not two. Therefore, it behooves you to develop good relationships with a number of teachers throughout your high school career.

This is useful not just because they might write letters of recommendation for you some day, but because teachers are often among a small group of adults who really understand teenagers and their issues. While this will not be true for all teachers, the
special place some have in your life ranges from role model to mentor to good friend during, and even after, high school. The better you and a teacher know one another, the greater the likelihood he or she will give you a glowing report on a teacher recommendation form.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Admissions officers pay a lot of attention to teacher recommendations because no one knows you better as a student.

adMISSION POSSIBLE® TIP! Teachers can choose to write a letter of recommendation or choose not to. It is their decision, not something they are required to do. Remember, teachers don’t get paid extra to go beyond their assigned teaching roles to write recommendations. They do this out of the kindness of their heart.