college reapplicant: can I re-use last year's teacher recommendations for congressional nomination?

[navy/airforce-hopeful man]

I assume not, but figured it doesn't hurt to ask.

Didn't see an answer to this on USNA or USAFA's websites. I'm not sure how well my college professors are gonna know me by the time recommendations are due, but I'll do my best to leave a good impression.

 

[Capt MJ]

I assume not, but figured it doesn't hurt to ask.

Didn't see an answer to this on USNA or USAFA's websites. I'm not sure how well my college professors are gonna know me by the time recommendations are due, but I'll do my best to leave a good impression.

The answers to congressional nom questions will not be on SA website. Elected officials run their nom selection and admin process as they wish. Contact the elected officials’ staffers who handle noms and get your answer from the primary source.

 

[navy/airforce-hopeful man]

The answers to congressional nom questions will not be on SA website. Elected officials run their nom selection and admin process as they wish. Contact the elected officials’ staffers who handle noms and get your answer from the primary source.

This is a great point! I will send out emails tonight.

 

[basketball2squid]

Hey! I'm also a reapplicant and am wondering the same thing! Please let me know what you learn

 

[A1Janitor]

Hey! I'm also a reapplicant and am wondering the same thing! Please let me know what you learn

Unless you are in the same district with the same senators and representatives - you might want to send an email to your nominating sources too.

 

[MidCakePa]

I'm not sure how well my college professors are gonna know me by the time recommendations are due, but I'll do my best to leave a good impression.

Make it your job — no, your mission — for your professors to have a good impression of you. It’s on you, not them, to make sure they know you well enough to provide a glowing assessment.

I teach at our flagship state university. Each year, I get a few requests for a recommendation. Could be for a scholarship, graduate school, a job. I say no to about half the requests, because that person flew under the radar. They may have aced the course and been a model citizen. But that’s just not enough for me to put my credibility on the line.

The ones I say yes to have this in common: They come to my office at least a couple times, introduce themselves, show genuine interest in the subject, seek advice for how they could do better (and most of them are already performing very well). They tell me of their aspirations and give me the heads-up that they’ll be asking for a reco.

The SA application is an extremely competitive process. Don’t leave things to chance. Other reapplicants aren’t.

 

[franknd]

Make it your job — no, your mission — for your professors to have a good impression of you. It’s on you, not them, to make sure they know you well enough to provide a glowing assessment.

I teach at our flagship state university. Each year, I get a few requests for a recommendation. Could be for a scholarship, graduate school, a job. I say no to about half the requests, because that person flew under the radar. They may have aced the course and been a model citizen. But that’s just not enough for me to put my credibility on the line.

The ones I say yes to have this in common: They come to my office at least a couple times, introduce themselves, show genuine interest in the subject, seek advice for how they could do better (and most of them are already performing very well). They tell me of their aspirations and give me the heads-up that they’ll be asking for a reco.

The SA application is an extremely competitive process. Don’t leave things to chance. Other reapplicants aren’t.

I think the concern is that reapplicants in their freshman year of college won't have had much of a chance to make any impression on their new professors by the time that recommendations need to be submitted if, say, a MOC has an early October application deadline. That's not an unfounded concern.

 

[MidCakePa]

I think the concern is that reapplicants in their freshman year of college won't have had much of a chance to make any impression on their new professors by the time that recommendations need to be submitted if, say, a MOC has an early October application deadline. That's not an unfounded concern.

A genuine concern. And one that can very easily be addressed by the candidate. In a regular semester, starting in August, the candidate has 5-6 weeks to get on the professor’s radar screen before an early-October deadline. As I mentioned above, it’s up to the candidate to be proactive, rather than sitting back and hoping the professor notices their peerless brilliance.

As I’ve told my own kids: If you want to make a positive impression, get your butt into the professor’s office early, introduce yourself, show genuine interest in the subject, engage in meaningful conversation, and make clear your upcoming request. Each semester, I have several students who do exactly this. It’s not that hard.

 

[franknd]

A genuine concern. And one that can very easily be addressed by the candidate. In a regular semester, starting in August, the candidate has 5-6 weeks to get on the professor’s radar screen before an early-October deadline. As I mentioned above, it’s up to the candidate to be proactive, rather than sitting back and hoping the professor notices their peerless brilliance.

As I’ve told my own kids: If you want to make a positive impression, get your butt into the professor’s office early, introduce yourself, show genuine interest in the subject, engage in meaningful conversation, and make clear your upcoming request. Each semester, I have several students who do exactly this. It’s not that hard.

You've experienced it, and I haven't, so I'll defer. But in a usual semester, they may have had one exam by the time that letter would need to be written. Sure, the prof may know the student's name by then if the student is coming to office hours,; but I could see it being a challenge for the prof to really know much about the student's aptitude for the subject by then. It's certainly not like, as a HS senior, going to your junior AP Chem teacher for a recommendation, or the same math or English teacher that you're into your second year with.

FWIW, I'd lean toward asking a HS teacher to write a nom letter. I think it's materially easier to do that given the tight timeline often in play for nom packets. As for SA recommendations, though, they generally seem to require letters from current college profs, but they generally don't need to be submitted as early as the nom letters do.