Question

birdboybird · Apr 24, 2011

Hi!

I am reapplying next year. How will I get effective letters of recommendations from College proffessors in a auditorium of students with virtually no interaction with the proffesor? Can I get TA's to do the recommendations?

Or perhaps they are not required for college kids?

Thank you all!

and just for kicks, are the odds of getting an appoitment on the second try better then the first??

THANKS!

MechTek · Apr 25, 2011

Answer

Hey birdboy,

I am currently a college student and applied to USNA for the class of 2015 and the process really does not differ from the Senior Application. You can still use the recommendations from your high school teachers, that's what I did, but just make sure to ask your high school teachers to write you new updated ones. You could get get recommendations from my professors fairly easily, just have to go to their Office Hours frequently and get to know them well and befriend them. Professors are people too. I chose not to because I thought my recommendations were strong enough, that I did not need college recommendations.
TA recommendations probably won't work.

I was told by my BGO that if your grades are strong in the right classes (Chemistry and Calculus are big ones) then your chances of getting an appointment are stronger. It also helps if the college you go to is reputable, and not like your local JC.

Good Luck! :biggrin:

futuremom · Apr 25, 2011

Another answer

DD is a freshman in college this year-and went through the application process. She made herself stand out in large classes by getting grades at the top of the class, going to EVERY review session and taking advantage of her profs' office hours. When she asked one or two of them to write letters for her, they were happy to do it!

usna1985 · Apr 25, 2011

MechTek said:
You can still use the recommendations from your high school teachers, that's what I did

Unless USNA has recently changed its policy w/o telling the BGOs, the above is not correct. We were told by USNA Admissions that, for college students, USNA wants recommendations from college profs.

Someone asked the question the OP did -- how will the college profs know you in a lecture class? USNA doesn't care. They realize that your letter may be "generic" and may be based entirely on your grades in the class. So be it. And, as the above poster points out, there may be ways to make yourself known to your prof -- remember that USNA won't even look at applications from college students until first semester grades are in, so you have several months to impress your profs, as it were.

Honestly, I'm not sure teacher recs matter as much for college students as they do for h.s. students.

You can, of course, ask your h.s. teachers to write letters and submit them as "extra" letters. But why? They likely will say more or less what they said the year before, which USNA has already read. And, I'm guessing they won't be too excited to write letters for you once you've left the school.

futuremom · Apr 25, 2011

Another answer

Spoke with DD--she reminded me that she had one letter from her College Calculus prof and one from a high school teacher--who rewrote her letter from the previous year. Those two letters together seemed to fit the bill. :wiggle:

Oh--and yes, she was required to submit those letters as part of her application, and also, she had to wait until first semester grades were in. (as noted above)

Memphis9489 · Apr 25, 2011

futuremom said:
Spoke with DD--she reminded me that she had one letter from her College Calculus prof and one from a high school teacher--who rewrote her letter from the previous year. Those two letters together seemed to fit the bill. Oh--and yes, she was required to submit those letters as part of her application, and also, she had to wait until first semester grades were in. (as noted above)

Everybody is using the term "letter" but aren't the recommendations that are sent to the Naval Academy all done by forwarding a link to the teacher via email? There is actually no paper letter involved - right?

kennyvoet · Apr 25, 2011

You could always include a resume when you ask your professor for help, that way they'll know a little bit about you even if they've only had you in class for a short time.

I don't know about the Naval academy specifically but the Military Academy did use the link system, but you may need a specific letter for the nomination process.

Memphis9489 · Apr 25, 2011

kennyvoet said:
I don't know about the Naval academy specifically but the Military Academy did use the link system, but you may need a specific letter for the nomination process.

True, recommendations to the MOC's are done by mail - on paper. But then again, you have much more latitude in WHO you select for those recommendations. You don't have to use some professor who hardly knows you. In fact, I strongly recommend against it.

But you don't have that kind of latitude with the academy. They tell YOU from whom they want the recommendations. If they want them from your Math and English prof - then that's what you have to do.

HiMyNameisNick · Apr 25, 2011

usna1985 said:
Unless USNA has recently changed its policy w/o telling the BGOs, the above is not correct. We were told by USNA Admissions that, for college students, USNA wants recommendations from college profs.

Someone asked the question the OP did -- how will the college profs know you in a lecture class? USNA doesn't care. They realize that your letter may be "generic" and may be based entirely on your grades in the class. So be it. And, as the above poster points out, there may be ways to make yourself known to your prof -- remember that USNA won't even look at applications from college students until first semester grades are in, so you have several months to impress your profs, as it were.

Honestly, I'm not sure teacher recs matter as much for college students as they do for h.s. students.

You can, of course, ask your h.s. teachers to write letters and submit them as "extra" letters. But why? They likely will say more or less what they said the year before, which USNA has already read. And, I'm guessing they won't be too excited to write letters for you once you've left the school.

what if I am currently a H.S. senior about to graduate in june 2011. Can I do my rec.'s from my hich school teachers before I go off to college?

SaiLax · Apr 26, 2011

For nomination apps, it doesn't matter where your recommendations come from. For the actual academy application, I was told I needed to have recommendations from college professors. It's not so much a letter, they just have to fill out a form online - it's not sent to the applicant so I have no idea what's on it. USNA knows your professors may not know you as well as your high school teacher, especially if you're in big lecture classes. Neither of the professors I asked to fill out the forms for me knew me all that well, but I don't think it matters. As a college applicant the most important thing is to do well in the classes you will have to take at USNA - math, chemistry, english, physics, etc.