Letters of Recommendation

• Universities ask for teacher recommendation letters, typically from professors of core courses, who preferably have worked closely and know the student well. An LOR is a neutral third person assessment of a student by a person from an academic background so they are valuable inputs for an admissions committee. One report, however, was that professors recommendations were becoming less important as a rating measure.

Advisors counsel that applicants should meet deadlines, spend time researching colleges, be open-minded, have fun, communicate what "resonates" to the applicant about a particular school, not fall in love with one or two colleges, follow directions precisely and make sure to click the "submit" button. Rudeness towards staff members, feigning enthusiasm, and being pretentious are other turnoffs reported by admissions officers.

There is strong consensus among counselors and advisors that starting the college search early is vital. One recommends starting early in the final year of graduation; another suggests that even this is too late, and that the process should begin during the second year or summer before senior year. And sources suggest that students who begin the process earlier tend to earn more acceptance letters. Another advantage of beginning early is so that applications can be proofread for mistakes. Advisors suggest that emails should be sent to specific persons in the admissions office, not to a generalized inbox, in order to maintain accountability.

Advisors suggest that applicants sending in paper applications should take care that handwriting is legible, particularly email addresses. Advisors counsel that mistakes or changes should be explained somewhere in the application; for example, an adviser at Grinnell College suggested that a record need not be perfect but there must be an "explanation for any significant blip."

Advisors suggest that applicants should "own up to any bad behavior" such as suspensions since schools are "duty-bound to report them", and suggest that a person should "accept responsibility and show contrition for "lessons learned," according to one view. Advisors suggest that the application should help a student position themselves to create a unique picture. It helps, according to one advisor, if a person knows himself or herself, because that enables an applicant to communicate effectively with a prospective school.