Recommendations

H

Hunter15

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Joined
Mar 16, 2021
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19
Hello all,
I recently was accepted into SLE so I have been doing more research into what is needed on the application. I noticed I needed three recommendations. I know I can get my English teacher and PE/Football coach to write a good recommendation. The only problem is that at my school we take 4 classes first semester and 4 the next semester. I had math 1st semester and somewhat know my math teacher but we had to stay away from his desk because of covid and I haven't seen or talked to him since the end of 1st semester. I know I might be able to get my next math teacher to write a recommendation, but I am moving and don't know if I will be able to make a relationship with them in time. How should I go about this and would one bad recommendation hurt my application?
Thanks!
 
Hunter15 said:
Hello all,
I recently was accepted into SLE so I have been doing more research into what is needed on the application. I noticed I needed three recommendations. I know I can get my English teacher and PE/Football coach to write a good recommendation. The only problem is that at my school we take 4 classes first semester and 4 the next semester. I had math 1st semester and somewhat know my math teacher but we had to stay away from his desk because of covid and I haven't seen or talked to him since the end of 1st semester. I know I might be able to get my next math teacher to write a recommendation, but I am moving and don't know if I will be able to make a relationship with them in time. How should I go about this and would one bad recommendation hurt my application?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
How about the principal or your counselor?
 
They are not recommendations but statements of evaluation (SOE). This is important because they are not open ended. Your teachers will be asked to rate you in specific areas and can add comments. They are much easier that a letter of recommendation.

My son was in a similar situation with his application. He had physics his junior year but the teacher only ended up teaching it online for 1 semester because of COVID concerns. He eded up taking the 2nd semester of the class at home with me (he is homeschooled). USMA rules state that only 1 SOE can be written by a parent and I already needed to the Math SOE as he had not taken any outside math courses. We really had no choice but to ask his physics teacher to do the SOE. My ds did well in the class and did not have any issues with the teacher or the content. The wildcard was that he didn't really have a relationship with the teacher. Of course, we do not know the content of the SOE, but my ds was offered an appointment to USMA.

My point is this: I do think a bad SOE could keep you out of USMA but don't assume that it will be bad. If you performed well in class, I expect the teacher to give you a fair evaluation. It would be great if all of the SOEs could be from teachers who know well and love you but that is not always an option. Waiting for the math class at the new school is a scary unknown and you would still only have a semester of instruction before the SOE would need to be written.
 
Hunter15 said:
Hello all,
I recently was accepted into SLE so I have been doing more research into what is needed on the application. I noticed I needed three recommendations. I know I can get my English teacher and PE/Football coach to write a good recommendation. The only problem is that at my school we take 4 classes first semester and 4 the next semester. I had math 1st semester and somewhat know my math teacher but we had to stay away from his desk because of covid and I haven't seen or talked to him since the end of 1st semester. I know I might be able to get my next math teacher to write a recommendation, but I am moving and don't know if I will be able to make a relationship with them in time. How should I go about this and would one bad recommendation hurt my application?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
I'm in a similar situation. I don't think it's that uncommon. My evaluation from my English teacher will be my sophmore year teacher which was all online due to Covid. It'll have to be done based on grades recorded and hopefully memory of me in a virtual setting. Possibly, I'll get an evaluation from a college prof from classes I'll be doing as dual enrollment my senior year. Also, my math evaluation will be coming from an entirely online AP Calc BC class. There are not enough students at my school to fill the class so they built a class composed of students from 10 other schools. All we can do is ask for the evaluations to be filled out and hope we are remembered. That and standardized test score should tell the story.
 
Also, if possible, you might want to have a casual conversation with your online teacher to get to know them. I've been told by JROTC commander to avoid asking for a SA recommendation from a certain teacher at my school who has personal issues with the military and has intentionally sabotaged student applications. A casual conversation to discuss your intentions might go a long ways before you hand over a recommendation form.
 
I am also in essentially the same boat, all of my classes during my junior year have been online dual-credit courses and I am planning to do the same for my senior year. So my evaluations will come from professors who I have not had much personal interaction with. Along with that, my school only requires us to take a gym class if we do not participate in a sport, so the last gym class I had was as a freshman. Will it be fine to have that gym teacher and my professors to complete the evaluations? Or is there something else I should do?
 
99Gold said:
They are not recommendations but statements of evaluation (SOE). This is important because they are not open ended. Your teachers will be asked to rate you in specific areas and can add comments. They are much easier that a letter of recommendation.

My son was in a similar situation with his application. He had physics his junior year but the teacher only ended up teaching it online for 1 semester because of COVID concerns. He eded up taking the 2nd semester of the class at home with me (he is homeschooled). USMA rules state that only 1 SOE can be written by a parent and I already needed to the Math SOE as he had not taken any outside math courses. We really had no choice but to ask his physics teacher to do the SOE. My ds did well in the class and did not have any issues with the teacher or the content. The wildcard was that he didn't really have a relationship with the teacher. Of course, we do not know the content of the SOE, but my ds was offered an appointment to USMA.

My point is this: I do think a bad SOE could keep you out of USMA but don't assume that it will be bad. If you performed well in class, I expect the teacher to give you a fair evaluation. It would be great if all of the SOEs could be from teachers who know well and love you but that is not always an option. Waiting for the math class at the new school is a scary unknown and you would still only have a semester of instruction before the SOE would need to be written.
Click to expand...
I thought it had to be an english teacher, math teacher, science teacher, and coach/pe coach. Is this not true? If not how many do I need and from who?
 
That is true. It was just a little more complicated for my ds as a homeschool and the fact that I was his teacher for several of the SOE subjects. He worked with his RC to make sure he had appropriate teachers for each SOE. A traditionally-schooled student wouldn't run into the same issues.
 
Variety is very important with regards to references. For various activities throughout high school I have received references from:

1. Teachers
2. Youth pastors
3. Family friends
4. My boss (VERY IMPORTANT)
5. My Company Captain (ARNG)
6. Coach and counselor

Don't just go for teachers and counselors. Get someone who knows you personally and can write something that will stand out.
 
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