About
Who to ask and how to ask for letters of recommendations.
TRANSCRIPTION DONE BY MYTONOMY
Hello my name is Brett Ubl and I’m a sophomore at the University of Notre Dame, and this video is to talk about letters of recommendation for your college applications. First of all, pick two or three people you know, who you’ve worked with, both in the classroom and outside.
Hopefully for example, I picked my economics and computer teacher, he was also my basketball coach. I also picked my government teacher who was also the advisor of a service organization I was a part of. It really helps for a teacher and even for admissions officials looking at your application, to see a broader version of yourself than just the academics and how you participate in class, to see actually work through activities and other involvement.
From there in terms of actually asking your teachers, give them plenty of time. If your due date is the 2nd week of October, at least give them 3-4 weeks. Keep in mind their life has other things going on so asking the night before is really asking them a lot. At the same time think of the essays you’re trying to write. You wanna put a lot of time into your own essays, revise them, proofread them, etc. and faculty do the same; they wanna represent you well and help you out. They wanna make sure they’re writing their best as well, and you can’t necessarily do that in one night.
Don’t ask them over email or over a phone call, go talk to them in person, not right before or after class. Make a point to do it before or after school. Say, “hey, can I talk to you for 10-15 minutes when you have time? Make it a point to have a meaningful conversation with them, and hopefully it’s someone you know well so the conversation isn’t forced or awkward.
And keep in mind that they’re expecting it, teachers do this all the time, it’s their job if you will, especially for juniors and seniors, so they’re used to it. Don’t feel like it’s an awkward question, just be comfortable with it. The other thing that helps is bringing a resume of yours or a list of activities you’re involved in.
One of the most effective parts of a recommendation is for them to talk about you in a variety of situations, not just in the classroom or in one sport, or this or that, but to talk about you in all those different spheres where they see you. So a resume would help them so much as they’re writing the letter and it also helps them get to know you better too. I hope this helps and with that being said, go Irish.
