English recommendation

Sabs F

Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2015
Messages
41
So I know that a math, science and English recommendation are necessary for West Point's application and I have two great teachers to fill out the math and science recommendation but my problem is with the English recommendation... All of my English teachers have retired so I can't get in contact with any of them... I was wondering if a history teacher could write the English recommendation (I think I wrote more in that class than I ever did in my English class!)
 
So all of the English teachers that you had in high school have retired? 9th, 10th, 11th? AP teachers too?

I would contact Admissions and ask. Your school administration would know how to reach your teachers.
 
So all of the English teachers that you had in high school have retired? 9th, 10th, 11th? AP teachers too?

I would contact Admissions and ask. Your school administration would know how to reach your teachers.
Yeah my pre-AP teacher freshman year got married and retired and sophomore year I duel-enrolled for English and I took English 1 and 2 with the same Prof. who isn't teaching anymore and I can't email him because on the new online system my local state college that I duel-enroll with got, I can only email professors I'm currently enrolled with... Also, I duel-enrolled for an English lit class sophomore year but I can't contact that teacher either because of the system. Even if I contacted the Professors that I had sophomore year the chances that they'd remember me well enough to write a recommendation that I'd want West Point is slim considering these college classes have 50 students each and the professors teach more than one class so I'm just another kid who wrote well and got an A. So I'm not sure what to do. I can ask my guidance counselor if she knows how I can contact my teacher freshman year but then I have to hope that she still remembers me after two years!
 
Another option would be to contact WP and ask them for their suggestion after you've explained your situation. I'm sure it's not the first time they've gotten this question. The requirement of a letter from three specific teachers it probably challenging for others for the same/similar reason.
 
OP, can't you just ask your 12th grade(next year's) English teacher to write you a letter of recommendation?
 
I'm so confused. Where is this year's teacher? What English are you taking next year? You can wait til October and have that teacher write it after they know you a bit. My son had to have his college composition teacher write, so he waited until he felt he'd developed enough of a rapport to ask her to do so. I admire your wanting to do everything early, but your application isn't even open yet, is it? It should open after Rday for 2019....so relax; you have plenty of time.
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I emailed WP admissions for their answer so now I'm waiting for their response. Also, I already have all of my English requirements met (I finished that sophomore year) for graduation so I don't need to take an English next year and I really don't want to, I'm more of a math/ science person. I know that I have a while until I need the recommendations but if I can't use my history prof then I'll need to enroll in an English course, probably another lit class, and I need to know that so I can plan my schedule for next year! Does anyone know if a debate teacher could write an English recommendation?
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I emailed WP admissions for their answer so now I'm waiting for their response. Also, I already have all of my English requirements met (I finished that sophomore year) for graduation so I don't need to take an English next year and I really don't want to, I'm more of a math/ science person. I know that I have a while until I need the recommendations but if I can't use my history prof then I'll need to enroll in an English course, probably another lit class, and I need to know that so I can plan my schedule for next year! Does anyone know if a debate teacher could write an English recommendation?
West Point recommends 4 years of English. You aren't required to take 4 years of English to receive an appointment, but when West Point recommends you to do something it is probably in your best interest to do it. If you want to make yourself a competitive candidate, take English next year even if you can get a letter of recommendation from your freshman English teacher.


Also, I'm not sure if this is true, but I heard West Point prefers letters of recommendation coming from teachers that taught you in your Junior year. Can anyone confirm if this is true or false?
 
Last edited:
West Point recommends 4 years of English. You aren't required to take 4 years of English to receive an appointment, but when West Point recommends you to do something it is probably in your best interest to do it. If you want to make yourself a competitive candidate, take English next year even if you can get a letter of recommendation from your freshman English teacher.

In reference to you planning your schedule, here is what WP recommends you take in high school:

• Four years of English, with a strong emphasis on composion, grammar, literature, and speech

• Four years of math: algebra, geometry, intermediate algebra, and trigonometry

• Two years of a foreign language

Two years of a laboratory science such as chemistry, biology, or physics
One year of U.S. history
Courses in geography, government, and economics will be helpful as well, as will precalculus/calculus and basic compung


Also, I'm not sure if this is true, but I heard West Point prefers letters of recommendation coming from teachers that taught you in your Junior or Senior year. Can anyone confirm if this is true or false?
I discussed the "4 years" thing with my guidance counselor and she said four english credits is the same as four years so I'm good!
 
How did you manage to get 4 English credits in 2 years?
I duel-enrolled for ENC1101 the fall of my sophomore year which is equivalent to AP English and in the spring I took ENC1102 and English lit so I got all my english credits over with so I could take more math and science courses my senior and junior year
 
I duel-enrolled for ENC1101 the fall of my sophomore year which is equivalent to AP English and in the spring I took ENC1102 and English lit so I got all my english credits over with so I could take more math and science courses my senior and junior year
Oh I see. At my school they only give you half a credit for each course you complete while duel enrolling.
 
Unless your guidance counselor works in the Admission Office at WP, I would not bank my career solely on his/her recommendation. Call WP to discuss. If AP Lit and AP Lang are offered, I would highly recommended you take both. What is required for HS graduation and what is require for College acceptance are two different things. One thing colleges will look at is your school profile. They will look at what your school has to offer and ask did the student reasonably challenge himself/herself. They ask that because a good school is going to challenge you. They like to see 4yrs English, Math, Science, History, Foreign Language. The science better include Chemistry and Physics if you have interest in a SA. When you say you rather not, are you willing to take that chance? A CEO at a company I once worked had a plack that read "Leave nothing to chance".

Like mom3boys, I am a little confuse. If your teacher is no longer teaching they are no longer in the system. However, for the ones still teaching, I would bet if you went to the administration and asked them to contact them on your behalf you could get in touch with them. As strange as it might sound professor still use phones (verbal conversation device). Just for kicks I went on Auburn University searched on faculty. I pulled up pics and numbers in less than 2 mins. At minimum, take mom3boys advice and get a recommnedation your senior year. She is 2 for 2 and wrote the book. My DS did not turn in all his recommendations until Dec (mainly some technical issue) and will be reporting June.
 
My son completed 8.5 Language Arts credits (two of them were from dual enrollment English classes at our local community college). 4 credits is merely a minimum goal in my opinion.

Also, how prepared will you be for college level English if you have not had an English/Language Arts class for 2 years? For this reason, I'd encourage you to take an English class during your senior year.
 
I'm pretty sure the LOR must come from junior and/or senior year.
 
Unless your guidance counselor works in the Admission Office at WP, I would not bank my career solely on his/her recommendation. Call WP to discuss. If AP Lit and AP Lang are offered, I would highly recommended you take both. What is required for HS graduation and what is require for College acceptance are two different things. One thing colleges will look at is your school profile. They will look at what your school has to offer and ask did the student reasonably challenge himself/herself. They ask that because a good school is going to challenge you. They like to see 4yrs English, Math, Science, History, Foreign Language. The science better include Chemistry and Physics if you have interest in a SA. When you say you rather not, are you willing to take that chance? A CEO at a company I once worked had a plack that read "Leave nothing to chance".

Like mom3boys, I am a little confuse. If your teacher is no longer teaching they are no longer in the system. However, for the ones still teaching, I would bet if you went to the administration and asked them to contact them on your behalf you could get in touch with them. As strange as it might sound professor still use phones (verbal conversation device). Just for kicks I went on Auburn University searched on faculty. I pulled up pics and numbers in less than 2 mins. At minimum, take mom3boys advice and get a recommnedation your senior year. She is 2 for 2 and wrote the book. My DS did not turn in all his recommendations until Dec (mainly some technical issue) and will be reporting June.
I contacted the Admissions Office for my region so I am waiting to hear back from them, I definitely do not want a stupid mistake holding me back from my dream of attending West Point! Also, AP Lit and AP Lang are both offered but since I already have the credit for them (from English 1 and 2) my school won't let me enroll in them! I am actually in AP Chem now and I absolutely love it and have AP Physics planned into my schedule next year. When I said that I'd rather not, I didn't mean it in a way that I was completely against taking it, it is just that my schedule is already made next year (AP Physics, Anatomy and physiology, Calc 3, Differential Equations, Organic Chem, Health science 3) and I don't want to throw in another class if I don't absolutely need it.
The new system my school got is absolutely WHACK! It is literally impossible to find professors unless they are currently teaching you. The only people we are allowed to email are the professors we currently have! I had to show up to one of my old professors classes so I could get his email so I could contact him in the future because his daughter just graduated from West Point, and maybe to write me a recommendation!
If Admissions tells me I solely need an English teacher than I will have to enroll in another English, probably another literature, for the recommendation because I don't want to ask a professor that I haven't been in contact with for years, I don't think that'd be a smart move for me!
Thank you again for your advice and congratulations you must be so proud of your DS!!
 
My son completed 8.5 Language Arts credits (two of them were from dual enrollment English classes at our local community college). 4 credits is merely a minimum goal in my opinion.

Also, how prepared will you be for college level English if you have not had an English/Language Arts class for 2 years? For this reason, I'd encourage you to take an English class during your senior year.
My guidance counselor and I discussed that when I made the decision to just get all my Englishes done and I originally thought I would take a creative writing course senior year but strayed away from it when I was making my schedule but I'll probably have to go back to my original plan! I am going to take public speaking senior year, not because I need to but because I really want to, and I am wondering if that would be considered an English... If it is then I will have the best of both worlds :p
Thanks for the advice, it's definitely appreciated!! :)
 
Public speaking should 'count' as towards English credits - but check with WP just to be sure.
As an aside, I would encourage you to take public speaking because it is a life skill that you will use as an officer and throughout your adult life. Most people have no training in public speaking, and it is painfully obvious. If you become good at it, it really makes you stand out.
 
Back
Top