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RECOMMENDATION

Table of Contents:

Subject/Course Teacher Recommendation Writing Guide! Introduction! Composition of Recommendations! Useful Tips and Tricks! Common MistakesGuidance Counselor Recommendation Writing Guide! Introduction ! Batch Rank and Explanations! Useful Tips and Tricks! Common MistakesMiscellaneous NotesAppendix:! School Profile Sample (provided by Collegboard)! Sample Teacher Recommendations (provided by Harvard UK Club)! Sample Teacher and Counseor Recommendations and Critiques (provided by MIT ! ! Admissions)! Student Request for Letter of Recommendation! Student Profile for Letter of Recommendation!

College Admissions Mentors for Peers in the Philippines! www.campphilippines.org

WRITINGGUIDECOLLEGE ADMISSIONS MENTORS FOR PEERS IN THE PHILIPPINES

http://www.campphilippines.org


SUBJECT/COURSE TEACHER RECOMMENDATION WRITING GUIDE

IntroductionAs you may know (or as you were informed by your students asking for a recommendation), recommendations for colleges abroad are given extremely heavy weight in the admissions decisions for your student, the applicant. Recommendations have the ability to make or break a student’s application. An example is a student with perfect credentials (top of the batch, top standardized testing, amazing extracurriculars, etc.) but received a damning recommendation (‘typical’ in classroom discussion, doesn’t participate, etc.) will be potentially rejected. Because of the gravity recommendations hold, CAMP Philippines has crafted this guide in conjunction with many independent counselors and through thorough research on the topic using various resources (books by admissions officers, etc.) to assist you in writing your recommendation. Currently, there is a monopoly of information by the international schools (ISM, BSM, etc.) because they know how to write recommendations that admissions officers find attractive. One of CAMP’s missions is to break this information monopoly and level the playing field for everyone.

Composition of Recommendations

What are the essentials in a recommendation?

For subject or course teacher recommendations, the focus is really on, essentially, the student in the classroom/academic setting. Your student chose you to write his/her recommendation because he/she thinks you can adequately capture them. They’ve probably find great interest in your subject or think that you know them pretty well. Here are some essentials that ought to be present in your recommendation, regardless if you’re giving a good one or a bad one. Remember that admissions officers see thousands of applicants who look exactly the same on paper, so the recommendation you’re writing can potentially serve as a deal breaker. Understand though that while admissions officers look at everything you write, they also look at everything you don’t include.

1. ContextMake sure to state in what capacity you have known the student! It’s usually best to start out with this. Other than knowing him in classroom, how long have you known her? Did she form a club with you, or was he trained by you for academic competitions?

2. Classroom Performance and Academic AchievementAdmissions officers extrapolate on how they’ll be in the college classroom environment from how the student is in your classroom. Is the student active in class discussions? How much does he contribute? Is she quiet, but brimming with potential? Does he lead class discussions, or does she simply follow them? Beyond this, you have to give an estimate of how ‘good’ your student is in terms of academic skill/potential/achievement in relation to his/her class or, if warranted, all the students you’ve encountered in your career. If your students is truly amazing, say it - admissions officers need some sort of comparison to gauge how good the student is.

3. Learning PotentialWhat kind of learner is the student? Is he the type to look for all the answers, or is she the kind who asks all the questions? You need to include the kind of thinking, in general,




your student exercises in your class - you can give examples in tests, or even mention an essay of his that particularly struck you because it was so amazing, etc. Share learning qualities that you find impressive and debilitating (if utterly necessary - like if he/she impedes your class, etc.). Also, is the student naturally curious? Does she go the extra mile for your class? Does he follow up on topics he finds interesting?

4. Personal QualitiesWhat are the standout qualities of your student? Is she very humble, or is he annoying haughty? Does he have an awareness of others, or does she just have an awareness of her self? Does she work well with others, or is he belligerent? Expound on qualities you deem important in a person. Remember that your student picked you because he/she thinks you know him well - capitalize on that!

5. Extenuating Circumstances (if necessary)Sometimes, students go through certain experiences or circumstances that somehow affect their performance. A morbid example would be the death of a close family member (sorry for that). These are usually great determiners of personal qualities, because they can show how a student reacts to life’s vicissitudes. However, only write about this if you think it’s necessary

Useful Tips and Tricks

How do you get your student, the applicant, noticed? 1. Be honest and sincereYour integrity as an educator is at stake here - although you may really want your student to get in to his/her dream school, you’re doing your student and yourself a disservice if you lie (or even exaggerate) about a student and his/her qualities. Trust me, we at CAMP want our mentees to get into their first choice schools as well, but that kind of achievement is not ours, but theirs. While we shed light on the path and give a little nudge, we don’t actually do the walking.

2. Be concise!Admissions officers drown in paperwork, and a 6 page recommendation (that’s full of text blocks) will be looked at with a scorn. Use simple but effective statements, (“Michi is the most talented student I have encountered in my 14 year career as an educator”) because those give the most impact. It’s best to keep the recommendation under two pages, if possible one.

3. Give specifics/anecdotes‘Show, rather than tell’ is what we tell our mentees for their essays, and that cliché applies for recommendations as well! Rather than stating a determining trait of a student, share a story that emphasizes it! The more specific, the better - and there’s nothing more specific than anecdotes!

4. Back up each claimContinuing from the previous item, writing “Chris shows a perceptive understanding of sophisticated literature”, expound on his perceptions are about the literature and why they strike you as noteworthy!




5. Recommendation ConsistencyDoes the actual impact of your letter equal your intended impact? As part of the recommendation, you may have to fill in some boxes that rate the student in comparison to all the students you’ve ever taught and the graduating class. Make sure there’s consistency - red flags if you tick ‘top 25% in graduating class’ and you indicate that she’s one of the best you’ve ever seen!

6. Strong statements! (as warranted)Chances are, the admissions officer reading your letter of recommendation is/has/will read thousands more, so make sure you start AND end with strong statements! More than your students’

7. Coordinate with other recommendersTo ensure that what you want to say about a student gets across, you may opt to coordinate with other subject teacher and counselors, if you prefer it.

8. Take your timeIdeally, your student will ask you early into the year for a recommendation. If more than one student asks you, take time between writing the recommendations - you run the risk of your recommendations sounding the same if you write them all in one sitting!

Common Mistakes

What NOT to put or what NOT to do in recommendations

1. The 3 DsThis applies to the student who applies to the selective college. The three Ds, ‘diligent’, ‘determined’, and ‘devoted’, while very good qualities in an individual, are actually damning for a student applying to a place like Harvard, especially if these are the ones you expound on. These qualities are expected in students applying to selective schools! You can mention them, but make sure they’re not so played up, unless of course that’s really all you can say!

2. The Perfect ApplicantDon’t sell your student as a perfect one - admissions officers weren’t born yesterday. Sure, highlight your student’s achievements and potential, but don’t make them sound perfect, or the admissions officers reading your recommendation might question its integrity.

3. Mentioning of specific collegesFor most schools abroad (in the US and UK in particular), a streamlining system such as the Common Application is used, and thus, the one letter you write will be sent to all schools. Usually, admissions officers might just scoff and take it in stride, but this might do some damage as well. If your student tells a particular college that it’s his first choice, then your recommendation letter mentions another, that will most likely do some damage.




COUNSELOR RECOMMENDATION WRITING GUIDE

IntroductionAs a guidance counselor, you’re in a very unique position and hold a lot of sway - probably more than you even understand! Often, students’ applications can be both exemplified by a counselor recommendation or killed by it, depending on what’s mentioned and left out. Because of the gravity recommendations hold, CAMP Philippines has crafted this guide in conjunction with many independent counselors and through thorough research on the topic using various resources (books by admissions officers, etc.) to assist you in writing your recommendation. Currently, there is a monopoly of information by the international schools (ISM, BSM, etc.) because they know how to write recommendations that admissions officers find attractive. One of CAMP’s missions is to break this information monopoly and level the playing field for everyone, and this is one very important way of carrying it out.

Before we go on specifics, we feel it important to mention an important concept that’s best kept in mind as you assist your student through the process. This is internal consistency, a term coined by Harvard’s Dean of Admissions, WIlliam Fitzsimmons. An application, with all its components, from grades to scores to essays to recommendations, has to make sense. Everything should say the same, or at least point to the true qualities of the student. In other words, the application has to be consistent. One way admissions officers ensure this is through the recommendations (both counselor and teacher ones). They look to such reports to confirm what they already know about the applicant from the rest of his/her file. Any stark inconsistencies raise red flags.

All the while, remember that admissions officers like to admit people, not numbers, to their respective colleges.

Batch Rank and Explanation

Because of the magnitude of this, we’ve put it in its own category, instead of placing it under ‘essentials’. To further emphasize this, how you report students’ ranking can make the difference between acceptance and rejection. Here’s why:

Colleges like to get an idea of where the student stands in relation to the rest of his batch. He/she (or you) will already be stating it in the application (as will you) as either a specific rank (1 out of 265), a percentile/decile (10% in 265), and either will be weighted (harder courseload/classes ARE seen in the grade/rank) or unweighted (harder courseload/classes ARE NOT seen in the grade/rank). In some situations, no rank or percentile is given, simply because the school does not compute it. How you report it is important because this gives admissions officers an idea of how your student performs in relation to the rest of his/her year. We’ll discuss the various ways to report ranking and how they are seen by admissions officers. After that, we’ll give you a few tips on further ways to improve your reporting

1. Exact, weighted rankingThis is the best kind of ranking you can give the admissions officers, simply because they tell them how strong the student is in relation to the rest of his batch with harder courseload factored in, simple as that.




2. Exact, unweighted rankingThis is the next best kind, but they don’t factor in hard classes and courseload. Admissions officers will look at how hard the courseload is (rated by you) to see if the student indeed challenged him/herself with harder classes. They’ll be a lot more skeptical though, because this kind of ranking benefits a student who took easy classes to rise in rankings.

3. Percentile rankingThese are similar to the exact ranking, but are a bit blurred. What most colleges do for this is get the in between rank - for example, if a student is rated ‘within the top 10 percent’, things get more complicated. Most colleges agree that the midpoint of this (for our example, the top 5%) will be used. This benefits the one at the end of the spectrum (students in the 10th percent) but doesn’t the student at the 1st percentile. Of course, this varies, but we have ways of helping a student when a school reports this kind of ranking.

4. No ranking/percentile information providedAdmissions officers hate this, but a lot of schools (especially competitive private ones) are adopting this system. Admissions officers here may almost purely rely on standardized testing (this can be a good and bad thing, depending on your student’s score) and the other information teacher recommendations and grades provide.

Tips for reporting rankingEven giving exact, weighted ranking, what admissions officers prefer most, can actually still be improved on with more information that will assist your student. Here are two ways for doing so:

1. School Profile (explained below; see sample in appendix, provided by the Collegeboard)The school profile is a document that you are required to upload as per requirement as a counselor. It contains various important information that help admissions officers in their own assessment of your student.

2. Giving your own, professional estimations/takeEven though your student is the valedictorian, this really doesn’t say much about the rest of his/her class. It’s very possible that there barely isn’t any difference in a student in the 10th percentile and the 1st percentile. Although these seem like minor details, these are VERY important to admissions officers (part of the school profile is a grade distribution that gives officers this information already, but just in case you’re unable to come up with one, indicating it yourself will still bear the same weight). This is especially important if your school does not report ranking. Statements like “Although our school does not report ranking, if it did, then Kaye would be at the far top of her class” will carry a lot of weight in how the admissions officers see your students.




Essentials

Counselor recommendations are very different from teacher recommendations - you don’t need to highlight academic achievement, how they are in the classroom, etc. As a counselor, you deal with more big picture things, to state it colloquially. Here are very important things you need to place in your recommendation.

1. CourseloadAdmissions officers get a sense of the student’s intellectual curiosity and whatnot through an accurate description of his/her courseload, and it’s up to you to indicate exactly how difficult your student’s courseload is. More than just enumerating them, something which the student already does, you ought to expound a bit. Statements like “Christine is one of the five students in her entire year that took this kind of courseload, and flourished” will go a long way. It’s also good to give an enumeration of the kind of courses/classes your school offers, and how many students take varying difficulties of course load. Admissions officers rate applicants (your students) according to how they challenge themselves, and this is one particularly heavy component of the equation.

2. Personal QualitiesElaborate on your student’s outstanding personal qualities - colleges like to admit people, and not numbers. If you know your student to have amazing personal qualities that you deem most commendable (or the opposite), by all means mention it! Admissions officers need to see how your student is generally viewed, and they more or less get an idea of it from you.

2. Extenuating CircumstancesYour student may have experienced difficulties or whatnot that may seem very commendable (or the opposite), and are thus worth mentioning in your report. Chances are that these might even be able to explain trends in grades, information very useful to admissions officers. If you know your student to have gone through terrible or arduous ordeals and have risen to the occasion, elaborate on it! These highlight personal qualities that will most likely shine as he/she enters college. Likewise, if your student has a disciplinary problem or whatnot that’s well documented in school documents, elaborate on that as well.

3. Expounding on awardsMost colleges will not recognize any local awards that are given (unless probably if they’re internationally/nationally recognized), so it’s very important that you give the context behind the award. “Michi won the best student award, one given only every 10 or so years”, or “He is a consistent first honor student, one of only three in his class of three hundred” go a long way as well.

4. Extracurricular accomplishment and place in the batch (other than grades)It is very possible that your student also shines (or not) in arenas other than grades, and it’s very important to highlight this to admissions officers. If your student made particularly amazing strides in research, community service, music, or whatnot, please indicate it! If your student has initiated his own programs or clubs or athletic team, expound on it! Admissions officers like to know how your student stands out other than grades as well.




Useful Tips

Some useful tips in getting your student across

1. Be honest and sincereWe strong advise against lying, or even exaggerating, in an attempt to get your student in. More than just compromising your own values/principles, this places your credibility in jeopardy - and colleges take note of these things. If, for example, you give the most stellar recommendations about five students, each saying that he/she’s the best you’ve ever encountered, this will severely undermine your credibility. Admissions officers will make a note of such cases, especially if there’s an established trend. You ought to aim for consistency throughout your report. If you say that a student with 500s or 600s in his/her SATs is one of the best of your career, officers would think to themselves that either ‘wow, this high school must be terrible’ or you may be out of touch with reality.

2. Use anecdotes; be specificIt doesn’t help to just describe your applicant with adjectives - make sure to use specific anecdotes to highlight your student’s most resounding traits and qualities. Admissions officers will believe you more for this! Although very simple, this is actually extremely helpful for the admissions officers reading your report.

3. Back up each claimContinuing from the previous item, writing “Chris shows a perceptive understanding of sophisticated literature”, expound on his perceptions are about the literature and why they strike you as noteworthy!

4. Be concise!Admissions officers drown in paperwork, and a 6 page recommendation (that’s full of text blocks) will be looked at with a scorn. Use simple but effective statements, (“Michi is the most talented student I have encountered in my 14 year career as an educator”) because those give the most impact. It’s best to keep the recommendation under two pages, if possible one.

5. Recommendation ConsistencyDoes the actual impact of your letter equal your intended impact? As part of the recommendation, you may have to fill in some boxes that rate the student in comparison to all the students you’ve ever taught and the graduating class. Make sure there’s consistency - red flags if you tick ‘top 25% in graduating class’ and you indicate that she’s one of the best you’ve ever seen!

6. Strong statements! (as warranted)Chances are, the admissions officer reading your letter of recommendation is/has/will read thousands more, so make sure you start AND end with strong statements! More than your students’

7. Coordinate with other recommendersTo ensure that what you want to say about a student gets across, you may opt to coordinate with other subject teacher and counselors, if you prefer it.

8. Take your timeIdeally, your student will ask you early into the year for a recommendation. If more than one student asks you, take time between writing the recommendations - you run the risk of your recommendations sounding the same if you write them all in one sitting.




Common Mistakes

What NOT to put or what NOT to do in recommendations

1. The 3 DsThis applies to the student who applies to the selective college. The three Ds, ‘diligent’, ‘determined’, and ‘devoted’, while very good qualities in an individual, are actually damning for a student applying to a place like Harvard, especially if these are the ones you expound on. These qualities are expected in students applying to selective schools! You can mention them, but make sure they’re not so played up, unless of course that’s really all you can say!

2. The Perfect ApplicantDon’t sell your student as a perfect one - admissions officers weren’t born yesterday. Sure, highlight your student’s achievements and potential, but don’t make them sound perfect, or the admissions officers reading your recommendation might question its integrity.

3. Mentioning of specific collegesFor most schools abroad (in the US and UK in particular), a streamlining system such as the Common Application is used, and thus, the one letter you write will be sent to all schools. Usually, admissions officers might just scoff and take it in stride, but this might do some damage as well. If your student tells a particular college that it’s his first choice, then your recommendation letter mentions another, that will most likely do some damage.




MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

We would like to thank you very much for consulting our CAMP Philippines Recommendation Writing Guide! We hope just as much as you do that our mentees and your students get accepted at the college of their choice! Besides this guide, CAMP has also devised a system that you may opt to use to help your write more substantial recommendations.

Similar to the system used in various international schools, we have devised two documents, a STUDENT REQUEST FOR LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION and STUDENT PROFILE FOR LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION. When asking for a letter of recommendation, your student ought to give you the first document, the request, which will already have key information about the student that you may use. Should you decide to write the letter of recommendation, the student will opt to provide you with his/her profile to further assist you in writing a more effective recommendation. Although you will be able to work with the information given in the initial request form, you may benefit from more detailed information found in the profile form. However, it is up to your discretion on what you choose to use.

If you wish your student to use these forms, you may tell him/her (they are available on our website). It’s also possible that your student will give them to you automatically, and if that is indeed the case, we certainly hope that you will use them!

If you have any questions about any of the information on this document (or anything at all), please don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected] or [email protected]!

References:Admissions Confidential: An Insider’s Account of the Elite College Admissions by Rachel ToorA is for Admissions: The Insider’s Guide to Getting Into the Ivy League and Other Top Colleges by Michelle HernandezHarvard Club of the UK (Assembling Your Application)The CollegeboardNew York Times: The Choice College Admissions BlogUnigo (www.unigo.com)Ms. Sonali Banerjee Hutchison (long time college counselor for ISM and now currently, Chinese International School)Mr. Shaun McElroy (long time college counselor, currently the counselor for Shanghai American School)


mailto:[email protected]




http://www.unigo.com

http://www.unigo.com



Appendix: School Profile, taken as a free resource from http://professionals.collegeboard.com/guidance/counseling/profile/sample

School Letterhead2012-13 [School Name] CEEB code: 222222 Main office: (555) 666-7777 Counseling office: (555) 666-8888 Website: www.schoolname.edu Principal: Genevieve Berry School counselors: Cherie Blake, Frank Morgan, Lee Wendell

CommunitySpanning [130 square miles], [district name] School District serves the educational needs of [this city's] [area of city]. Located in one of the state's fastest growing areas, the district enjoys a diversified economic base. Currently, the district consists of five high schools, four middle schools and 14 elementary schools utilizing a K-5, 6-8, 9-12 grade-level configuration. The student body is culturally diverse with a population that is 57% Hispanic, 16% African American, 13% white and 12% Asian.

School[School name] is a comprehensive four-year public high school enrolling 1,250 students in grades 9-12. The school opened in the fall of 1987 and graduated its first senior class in the spring of 1989. [School name] is accredited by the North Central Association of Secondary Schools and holds membership in the College Boardand the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

CurriculumThe academic program is organized on a rotating block schedule. Seven credits per semester is the maximum course load; students take four 95-minute block classes, two 97-minute block classes and one 50-minute class. Students attend three block classes and the regular class daily. Block classes are year-long; each block class meets every other day. Block scheduling was instituted in 1993. These AP® courses are offered: Art History, Biology, Calculus AB and BC, Chemistry, English Language and Composition, English Literature and Composition, European History, Government and Politics: United States, Government and Politics: Comparative, Physics B, Statistics, United States History and World History. AP world language and culture courses offered include Chinese, French, German and Spanish as well as Spanish Literature. AP is an open-enrollment program.

Honors classes are offered in English II, Algebra II, and Elementary Functions.Entry into Elementary Functions requires an 80% proficiency score on a school-created Algebra II skills test.

The Area Vocational & College Programs (AVCP) enables juniors and seniors to enroll in freshmen courses and earn college credits at local institutions of higher education.

Grading and RankingA - Excellent 94-100 4B - Above Average 85-93 3C - Average 75-84 2


http://professionals.collegeboard.com/guidance/counseling/profile/sample




http://www.schoolname.edu

http://www.schoolname.edu



A - Excellent 94-100 4D - Below Average 65-74 1F - Failure 64 or below 0

RankSchool policy eliminated class rank beginning with the Class of 2003.

Grade Point Average (GPA) CalculationGPA is computed using the above quality points. Beginning with grade nine, all subjects, whether passed or failed, are included in the computation. A minimum of 48 credits is required for graduation. In addition, each student must complete a 200-hour community service graduation requirement. AP and Honors classes are weighted by one point. Grades are recorded on the transcript and GPA is computed in January and May.

Class of 2013There were 365 graduates in the Class of 2013.

1 36 earned a 4.0+2 50 earned 3.5–3.993 100 earned 3.0–3.494 100 earned 2.50–2.995 75 earned 2.0–2.496 4 earned less than a 2.0

Standardized Test Results85% of the Class of 2011 (310) took the SAT85% of the Class of 2011 (310) took the SAT

67% of the Class of 2011 (245) took the ACT67% of the Class of 2011 (245) took the ACT

Middle 50% Critical reading

480–590 Middle 50% Composite

22–25

Middle 50% Math 500–650Middle 50% Writing 490–580

Advanced Placement Results1 In May 2011, 337 took AP Exams.2 A total of 771 exams were taken in 19 subjects.3 51% of the AP Exams received scores of 3 or higher.

Post High School Placement1 71% matriculated to 4-year colleges.2 18% matriculated to 2-year institutions.3 11% selected work, military service or technical instruction.

Awards and Distinctions, 2011-121 2 National Hispanic Program Scholar Finalists.2 2 National Council of Teachers of English Awards in Writing.3 1 National Merit Finalist.




Colleges Attended by [School Name] Graduates from the Last Four Years

Adams State CollegeAlaska U of FairbanksArizona State UniversityArizona, University ofBrigham Young UniversityCarleton CollegeCarnegie Mellon UniversityCoe CollegeColorado CollegeColorado State UniversityColorado, U of BoulderCornell UniversityDenver, University ofFlorida TechFort Lewis CollegeGeorgetown UniversityGrinnell CollegeHarvard UniversityJames Madison UniversityLawrence UniversityLinfield CollegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyMesa State CollegeMontana, University ofNevada, U of Las Vegas

New York UniversityNorthern Colorado, U ofPennsylvania State UniversityPepperdine UniversityPuget Sound, University ofPurdue UniversityRhodes CollegeRochester Institute of TechnologySouthern Colorado, U ofTexas Christian UniversityTruman UniversityTulane UniversityUnited States Air Force AcademyUnited States Military AcademyWebster UniversityWestern State CollegeWheaton CollegeWilliam and Mary, College ofWisconsin, U of MadisonWyoming, University ofYale University

Contact InformationCherie BlakeSchool [email protected](555) 666-8888






Appendix: Sample teacher recommendations, taken as a free resource from http://www.harvard-ukadmissions.co.uk/uploads/files/Helpful%20Teacher%20Reports%20from%20the%20UK%20Handout.pdf

NOTE: While it is useful to have some sample teacher recommendations, please do not use them as a template for your own, or base what you want to say about your student on those found below.

Helpful Teacher Recommendation #1 - Bart Bart is a remarkable young man with real ability and potential. He has a passion for understanding the world around him and possesses the skill and expertise to analyse problems critically, and arrive at innovative solutions by making connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena. His understanding of Mathematics goes way beyond the requirements of the IB programme and he is able to use his mathematical ability to gain genuine knowledge in Chemistry.

I have known Bart since he arrived at our school two years ago. He won a highly competitive scholarship from his National Committee to study for two years at this international college where we have students from over seventy countries. I taught him Higher Level Chemistry all the time he was a student here. He impressed me immediately with his thirst for knowledge and understanding. Before he arrived he had taught himself much of his prior knowledge about chemistry and when he was here he could often be found with his head in a book reading further around each topic. He does have a good memory for factual information so is easily able to learn supporting facts but his real strength is his understanding and ability to apply underlying principles. He really enjoys questioning assumptions and looking critically at facts and theories that others take for granted. If I have to find a small fault with Bart it is that he is a perfectionist. He never wants to hand in work which he is not entirely comfortable with and this can cause him some problems in meeting deadlines – however, I stress that this is not through any lack of effort but simply because he always feels that he can do it even better. Whenever he was tested he scored very high marks and his top grade of 7 in Chemistry in his final examinations for his IB Diploma was exactly as I predicted.

As part of the requirements for the IB each student must carry out a piece of individual research and write a 4000 word Extended essay. Bart chose to do his in Chemistry. Usually students work on a problem that is new knowledge to them but not to ‘mankind’. Bart did some truly original research. The use of microwave ovens in chemistry is well documented but it always involves using an aqueous medium. Bart’s research problem was to see whether a microwave oven could be used to determine the dipole moment of molecules other than water. He investigated the effect of microwaves on the members of a homologous series of alcohols and had to overcome considerable practical and theoretical difficulties to establish that there is indeed a relationship and that the method can be used to determine an unknown dipole moment. This was a very successful outcome and his Extended Essay gained the highest mark, and I have included his findings in a recent textbook published by Oxford University Press that I have written.

At our school considerable emphasis is placed on educating the whole individual, not just on academic excellence. Bart fitted in extremely well in this international environment. He has a caring and sensitive nature and is also extremely patient and tolerant. These attributes were particularly useful when he visited other schools each week and helped younger students with literacy and numeracy. He also helped students of his own age in the local comprehensive school develop their computer skills. Within our own school environment he was the elected student representative for his house on the Staff Student Council and also ran an activity ‘Norwegian for beginners’ for his fellow students. I’ve taught many exceptional students during my 25 year teaching career, all of whom have gone on to study at prestigious universities throughout the world. Bart is up there with the best of them – he has a love of learning and a thirst for knowledge that is all too rare. For him understanding is everything.


http://www.harvard-ukadmissions.co.uk/uploads/files/Helpful%20Teacher%20Reports%20from%20the%20UK%20Handout.pdf








Helpful Teacher Recommendation #2 - Clarissa We are a selective grammar school that sends 95% of its class on to a full time university education. Several of our pupils go on to Oxford and Cambridge each year. Clarissa joined us at the start of year ten; she soon established herself as one of the best students we have ever had in a school of exceptional students.

Clarissa studies a wide variety of challenging subjects. She does Physics, Maths, Further Maths (which she manages on her own on top of an already heavy academic workload), but also English Literature and Economics, which I teach her. This breadth is very unusual at our school, where students generally sit closely linked A-levels. Because of her late entry to the school Clarissa was unable to formally participate in our History or Modern Foreign Languages, but she has repeatedly shown interest in those subjects. She attends a weekly Latin club and has self-taught knowledge of History. Clarissa’s desire to learn more than the school has to offer her illustrates one of her defining features, her intense intellectual curiosity.

In the Economics classroom Clarissa is on a level of her own. She picks up new theory effortlessly, but even more remarkable is her ability, and eagerness, to analyse it critically. In my eleven years of teaching she is perhaps the strongest student I have encountered. She does not accept theory on faith, regardless of who developed it (be it Keynes or Freidman). Although her mastery of the subject greatly exceeds the rest of her class, Clarissa always strives to make her thoughts accessible to all. She not only starts and leads classroom discussions, but also ensures that they are lengthy and valuable by including everyone in them.

Clarissa also shows remarkable dedication to her extracurricular activities. At our school we offer a limited range of opportunities for activities outside of the classroom compared to schools in the USA, especially before sixth form, and tend to focus on the academic element of the school more intensely. Although she takes two more A-levels than our average student, Clarissa has proved definitively that a balance can be struck. Always eager to amplify the student voice, she has founded a school newspaper and has been elected chairman of the student council. She also shows a genuine concern for her community, both at school and in the wider world. She has been a founding member of the peer-mentoring program and in establishing relations with a nearby primary school, where she tutored maths pupils. Just as she has done academically, Clarissa has made the most of the extracurricular opportunities available to her, and created some on top of that. In every activity she undertakes she naturally gravitates towards a position of leadership. For this reason she has been appointed deputy head girl, a most significant distinction for a latecomer to the school. The position is one of considerable responsibility that demands the most of Clarissa’s leadership abilities. She achieves good results through high expectations of her prefects and a firm but encouraging manner. Clarissa mixes well with all social groups at school, and commands the respect of her year.

In the four years I have known her, I have seen much of Clarissa’s character. Her caring for humanity can be seen both in the issues she raises academically, like the economic causes and consequences of inequality, and in her interaction with her classmates. She always makes time to help her peers. For example, she has helped many of her classmates by reading and editing their university applications. Although Clarissa undeniably possesses both moral and intellectual gravitas, she also has a dry sense of humour. Her way of tempering even her most serious thoughts with comic touches makes her a true pleasure to teach.

Clarissa is exceptional on every front. If we were to rank students she would easily be number one; she is simply one of the best and brightest the school has ever seen.




Helpful Teacher Recommendation #4 - Sophia

The quirks of school timetabling being what they are, I found myself in the happy position of teaching Sophia English at both the intermediary and senior stages of her school career – in other words for the major public examinations of General Certificate of Secondary Education and Advanced Level. These, by the way, are each two year courses. From the very first day she was an extraordinarily responsive, appreciative and conscientious student, and I could see that her qualities were complemented by outstanding ability and scholarship. Sophia also proved, in the course of time, to be a remarkably friendly and gregarious person – the sort of person with whom one can easily strike up a conversation outside the classroom.

I have always admired her independent approach to learning. This goes far beyond her simply doing things “her way” and suggests, rather, a readiness to take full responsibility for her own progress. At the same time she will always listen to, and act on, advice. Yet Sophia does not expect material to be pre-packaged or spoon fed, and takes it for granted that she will carry out her own preparation and research. In this respect she has the stamina and the interest to read widely and then go on to process copious material from many sources. She has a shrewd sense of is relevant, and yet is able to convey richness and depth. Her secret here is to write a good essay and express herself with commendable fluency. Over the years she has made a point of developing a well-honed and elegant written style. Being very well disciplined and well organized, she always delivers these essays on time. She possesses both scholarly and moral integrity.

Sophia has many qualities specific to my own subject of English Literature. I particularly admire the way she combines a trained intelligence with refreshing spontaneity, and critical acumen with deep emotional engagement. I like too her sense of both comic and tragic experience, her sense of laughter and pathos, and her belief that lessons themselves can sometimes be “fun” and sometimes in dead earnest. It was a pleasure to introduce her to the deeply moving text of Death of a Salesman when she was fifteen. Just a year or so later, I valued her delights in the brittle sophistication of Pope’s apparently frivolous Rape of the Lock. She also engaged with the broad sweep of E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India and appreciated its exotic descriptions, colonial context and spiritual depth. This year I find myself teaching Sophia Hamlet, and as I write she is appreciating the angst of early seventeenth century Melancholy. A colleague, equally fortunate, is introducing her to The Grapes of Wrath and Tender is the Night. I am also aware that she has tackled advanced philosophical and theological concepts in her Religious Studies courses, and has worked specifically on the relationship between mind, body and soul. This is the kind of topic perfectly tailored to Sophia’s manifest strengths in both the Arts and the Sciences. The long and brilliant paper on the Brain that very recently won her a prestigious and coveted prize at this school is still further evidence. She is a scientist with a deep love of literature and culture, and my firm feeling is that she would be particularly in tune, sympathetically and intellectually, with the liberal values and breadth of the American system.

Sophia is indeed a student of many talents whose superb time-management allows her to be active in so many areas on and off campus. She is a keen debater, an impressive mover and shaker, a violinist and a guitarist, a rower and fencer; she is also the founder, no less, of our very own and very popular Dance Society. She would indeed make many excellent contributions to campus life. It is not often that such a natural, friendly and ebullient personality joins forces with an intellect of such versatility and quality. Sophia is a very special student whom we are happy to recommend at the very highest level.




Appendix:Sample teacher and counselor recommendations with critiques taken as a free resource from MIT’s admission page.

Teacher Recommendation for David:

Critique: Excellent! This recommendation is filled with comments from someone who clearly knows this student well. We get a clear sense for not only David's intellectual capacities, but also emotional maturity. His genuine love for computer programming comes through in this teacher's description. We also realize that he is pushing academic boundaries in his community and making opportunities for himself - a trait that is especially important for a candidate seeking college admissions a year early.

Teacher Recommendation for Jen:


It is a great pleasure for me to recommend David for admission to MIT. He is one of the most extraordinary students I have encountered in 20 years of teaching. I taught David A.P. Calculus last year as a tenth grader, and he was one of the very top students in an extremely able group of mostly seniors. He has a high aptitude for math and was very much involved in his work, applying himself with persistence and dedication and often going beyond the regular class assignments. David's abiding interest, however, is computer science. He has developed a series of "strands" for use in providing computerized drill and review in the basic skills and techniques of algebra and arithmetic, and has recently adapted these to other subjects. David's work in this area has been so original and significant that he has published a paper on it and delivered several lectures to professionals in other parts of the country. This is a phenomenal accomplishment for anyone, especially a young man in rural Arkansas. It is also worth noting that both last year and this year David taught computer programming to a tenth grade class of mine for two weeks. He took over completely, preparing lectures, assignments, and tests with great care and thought. His lectures were clear and well organized, and it was obvious that he had expended a great deal of effort to make the course the success that it was. David's personal qualities are as impressive as his intellectual accomplishments. An extremely kind, sensitive and sensible boy, he has had a difficult family situation for a few years now. He provides emotional support to his mother through her battle with cancer without allowing the situation to undermine his own stability and accomplishments. He has exhausted all that we have to offer him in this small community, and the maturity that he has demonstrated leads me to believe him capable of entering college a year early, as he now plans to do. I sincerely hope that you will be able to offer him a place in MIT's freshman class.

Jen was a student in one of my predominately senior physics classes. She took physics her junior year in high school and was a good student. Through hard work she was able to develop a good understanding of the subject material. Jen also had personal qualities that are commendable. In the two years that I have known her I have never known her to be dishonest or untrustworthy. Once on an exam paper I had made a grading error in her favor. She brought this to my attention even though it resulted in a lower test grade. In conclusion, I feel that Jen has both the academic and personal qualities to be a credit to the college of her choice, and I give her my recommendation without reservation.



Critique: We receive thousands of recommendations like this each year. It is all positive, but it doesn't give any real depth to the candidate. In this instance, the reader is left feeling the writer is reaching for something to say. Honesty and trustworthiness are certainly admirable traits, but they are not uncommon among the nation's top college applicants. We are looking for a compelling reason to admit someone, so information on class material does not help the candidate. Although Jen may be a hard worker, most of our applicants are. Although the comments are positive, it is difficult to grasp onto anything tangible to make this candidate's case stronger. Was this faint praise intentional? How does Jen fare in comparison with other (more outstanding?) candidates at the school?

Guidance Counselor Recommendation for Mary:

Critique: Good. Lots of specifics here give us a very clear impression and help us to know why that impression is held. We have evidence of her newspaper directives and overall character.

Guidance Counselor Recommendation for Jane:Critique: You may wonder whether or not the above information is appropriate in a letter of evaluation. It is! We appreciate anything that gives us insight and perspective into a student's performance and environment. Comments about problems that a student has experienced will help us understand the context in which they have accomplished whatever they have achieved. The extent to which they have dealt with these problems is useful to know as well


Mary has contributed to the school community in a variety of ways, most notably through her participation on the newspaper and yearbook staffs. Frankly, I am impressed with her aggressiveness, creativity, determination and ability to schedule extracurricular activities around a full academic workload. I have never heard Mary complain about her workload or refuse any assignment that she has been given. It is not adequate to say that she accepts responsibility readily. She seeks responsibility. Oh, for more such students! As business manager for the paper and co-editor of the yearbook the past two years, Mary has done an outstanding job. She personally brought the town's business community from the view that the school newspaper was a charitable organization to the realization that the paper is a direct pipeline through which advertisers can reach students. She also took the initiative to set up the advertising rate schedule for the paper that produced enough revenue to expand coverage from a four-page paper, so that it is an eight-page and often twelve-page paper. Her work as photographer for both publications has been equally outstanding. Her motivation is not forced upon her, nor does she wear it like a badge. She has tremendous self-discipline. Mary is also a dedicated, versatile and talented student who will be an asset to your undergraduate community. She has my respect and my highest recommendation.

Jane is an outstanding young woman whose academic record may not fully reflect her ability. Her parents were divorced during her junior year, and, for several years before that, her home situation had been in turmoil with a great deal of fighting between her parents. Her father has an alcohol problem and Jane certainly endured a great deal of emotional distress. The fact that she has been able to do as well as she has done given the circumstances says a lot for her. Now that the home situation has stabilized, her performance has improved. I believe her senior year grades are a much better reflection of her ability.



Guidance Counselor Recommendation for Mike:Critique: We do not learn very much from this report, but we understand why. The counselor is very honest and we are not left guessing as to the reason there is not more information and will turn our attention to other parts of the application.

Teacher recommendation for Brian:Critique: This is an example of an evaluation in which we really don't know what the writer is trying to tell us. The comments provided certainly do not give much substantive information. We are left wondering whether there is just not much to say about this student or whether the teacher just didn't bother to put much effort into the recommendation. This is a situation where we will probably form our impressions based on the pattern of all the recommendations. If all are equally uninformative, we will assume there wasn't much to say, but if the others are better, we will assume this teacher did not give much effort to the recommendation.


Brian was in the top five in my class consistently. He is certainly motivated to study. His character and personality are admirable. Brian is an excellent student, hard worker and has above average reasoning ability.

I do not really know Mike very well. He has come to me for routine matters, but generally has not had any problems that he has discussed with me. In this large school, I do not always have the time to personally get to know each of my advisees. From the comments I get from Mike's teachers, I have the impression that he is one of the strongest students this school has seen.



TEACHER: ______________________________STUDENT: ______________________________

Thank you so much for agreeing to write a letter of recommendation for your student’s college application! Once you have finished your letter, please give it directly to the Guidance Office for proper processing, or to whomever has been assigned to handle college applications at your school.

The student who requested a recommendation from you has answered the following questions to help you write your letter, and provide you with more insight into why they chose you specifically. Remember that, when in doubt, it is always best to ask! Email us at [email protected] or ask the student themselves if you have a question.

---------------------------------------FOR STUDENTS TO FILL OUT---------------------------------------

Student: Please fill out this form so that your teacher may get an idea of what he/she can include in your recommendation. You may either write down your answers on this form or procure an electronic copy found at http://www.campphilippines.org/for-teachers.html.

What subject do you think you will pursue in college? Also discuss how likely these plans are to change.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Based on what your teacher already knows about you, is there anything in particular that you would like your teacher to focus on in her letter?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What are two positive points that this teacher would use to describe you, and what are concrete ways in which you display them?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


College Admissions Mentors for Peers in the Philippines

Teacher Recommendation: Student Request Form



http://www.campphilippines.org/for-teachers.html

http://www.campphilippines.org/for-teachers.html



Describe a project, paper, presentation, etc. from the class that this teacher conducts which you really enjoyed or were especially proud of?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What activities do you do outside of class that may be related to your recommender’s subject (e.g. if it was an English teacher, I would talk all about my freshman seminar).________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Have you ever worked on any outside-of-class activity or trip with your teacher? If so, please lest them here!________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Is there anything else that you would like your teacher to know about you?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________




TEACHER: ______________________________STUDENT: ______________________________

TO THE STUDENT: Please answer the following questions to give your teacher a better picture of you as a person and as a student. Ideally, print out your answers to each questions and submit them to your teacher.

TO THE TEACHER: Read your student’s answers to these questions to help you write your letter of recommendation!

Autobiography: Give us the highlights of your life that will help us write your letter. That could include achievements and pitfalls, personal and family relationships, experiences and events, and anything else you think is important for admissions officers to know so that they understand who you are and where you're coming from.

What work of Art, Music, Science, Mathematics or Literature has been most meaningful to you? How has it surprised, unsettled and challenged you? In what way?

What is the most important lesson you have learned during high school? What did you learn about yourself in the process?

If you had all the money in the world, what would you do to stay busy? What would your career be? Tell us about it.

Describe a situation where you willingly stepped out of your comfort zone in the past three years. Why did you do it and how did you change because of it?

How would your friends describe you as a person? What do your friends most respect about you?

What outrages you? What are you going to do about it? [Adapted from Wake Forest University's essay question]

What is the best piece of advice you have received? How has it impacted you and how have you incorporated it into your lifestyle?

What is your favorite word and why? [The University of Virginia's essay question]

What is college/university for? [Adapted from Hampshire College's essay question]

Have you worked up to your potential in high school? Is your academic record an accurate measure of your ability and potential? Is there anything on your transcript that needs to be explained? This could include medical or personal extenuating circumstances.

Counselors really focus on what you do out of the classroom in their letters. With regard to activities, clubs, sports and daily life at your school, tell us IN DETAIL about the


College Admissions Mentors for Peers in the Philippines

Teacher Recommendation: Senior Profile



accomplishments you are most proud of (at least two, if possible). This could be anything from

Typhoon Ondoy relief efforts to making valuable changes to the yearbook to helping a new student feel welcome.

Universities love leaders. Tell us how you have been a leader. This could be as an officer of a club or initiating change.

Tell us about the out-of-school activity that has been most rewarding to you. Why has it been so rewarding? What did you do?

How have you spent your last three summers?

Tell us about your most memorable experience traveling with your school (on a team, field trip, etc.). Why did it make such an impact on you?

If you are involved in outstanding volunteer work(s), we want to know more about it. Please share in further detail!




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