Letters of Recommendation for New College Students

Letters of recommendation are an important requirement in the college application process. They are essential because they provide college admissions officers a good understanding of who the student is and how he deals with real‐life challenges coming from a different perspective. These letters are often written by teachers, employers, or mentors with whom the student has connected with at some significant point in his life.

As a student, it is not your responsibility to actually write these letters. However, it is you who should approach your teachers, request the letter from them, guide them as to what to include in the letters,
and follow up on them regarding the submission. To help you accomplish all of these, here are helpful tips on how to get letters of recommendation:


Start Early

During your junior year, you should already be listing down your options of which teachers, mentors, or employers would be able to write your recommendations. Keep in mind that these people are busy with their own schedule, so you need to ask them early for such favor. You need to remind them about your deadline and suggest when the best time is to submit the letter. To avoid pressures, give them at least one and a half month to prepare the letter.

Engage Actively

Asking teachers or employers to write a letter of recommendation for you doesn’t stop at telling them about your college plans. You should prepare to set up a meeting with them and discuss what personal qualities you want to be included in the letter. Give them as much information about you as possible. For their reference, you can hand them over a copy of your resume, transcript, writing samples, list of extracurricular activities, and even a draft of your college essay if you already have it.

Communicate

After your initial discussion, you need to constantly keep in touch with your teachers or employers and get updates about your recommendation letters. Remind them about the timeline of your college
application process and provide them with clear instructions on how to upload the letters electronically to the Common Application database. However, always be professional when you do a follow up. Understand when they get a little busy and be patient when they can get back to you.



Most importantly, do not let this stage of your application stress you out. If you need help, you can click here to get some tips
. You have a lot of other things to work on with your college application, and getting good letters of recommendation should not worry you too much. As long as you stay patient and diligent, you will get the kind of letter you’ve always wanted.