When it comes to intellectual vitality, colleges and universities want to be able to see what you’re passionate about on your application. In particular, they want to see that you care about pursuing your passions and are eager to learn! You can show this in your admissions essays or display it in your extracurricular activities by making it clear that you have distinct passions and are willing and able to follow through on them with actions.
But you know all of that by now don’t you? Now that universities have such low percentages of students admitted (some are around 4-5%), a recommendation letter can make all the difference.
Here are the top steps for receiving a good letter of recommendation:
- Allow plenty of time. It is really never too early to ask for a recommendation letter. Ideally, you will be giving 2-3 months of notice (enough to finish a “season”).
- Ask confidently in person; ie. “Mrs. Lake, would you be willing to write a letter of recommendation for me for Stanford University?”
- Follow up with an email including your resume (with your address on it)_ and the contact information for where to send the letter of recommendation.
- Make it easy for your harp teacher by reminding him/her why you want to attend a school and what that school values.
- Go the extra mile and include a sample recommendation for yourself on the email to your teacher. A well known acting teacher at Northwestern University has all of her students write their own letters of recommendation and then she reads and signs them. I worked for David Schwimmer and Jerry Springer!
- One week from the due date for your recommendation letter, send a followup email if your teacher hasn’t already let you know he/she sent it; for example, “Good morning Mrs. Lake, I was wondering if you have had a chance to send out my recommendation letter to Stanford. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help. Thank you in advance.
Good Luck!