Regarding teacher recommendations on your college applications, you can put your faith in your teachers to have your best interests at heart and write a stellar recommendation, right? Not exactly. While your teachers usually have your best interests at heart, that doesn’t necessarily mean they know what differentiates a competitive letter of recommendation from a bland one. That’s where we at Ivy Coach come in. We help our clients tackle the recommendation process early and ensure that their chosen recommenders fill their letters with strategic anecdotes that will compel admissions officers.

But how is this possible? As most people know, waiving your FERPA rights when requesting recommendations is advisable, which prevents you from seeing what has been written about you. If you fail to waive these rights, your recommendations suddenly won’t be worth the paper they’re printed on (or the screen they’re sent on, for that matter)! But should you leave it up to your recommender to know what they should write in their letter? No!

Students: Provide Teachers with the Right Anecdotes for Your Recommendations

Ivy Coach’s clients fill out their recommendation forms as early as possible (typically in the spring of their junior year) with compelling anecdotes that paint a picture of an engaged, curious, and likable classroom member. You might think being a hardworking student is another quality worth including, but this is not the case. Colleges want to admit students for whom academic challenges are easily surpassed. Hard workers will struggle to stay afloat once on campus.

We will work with you to draw these anecdotes from your experience in the classroom and send your recommender the details that will make you a highly competitive college applicant. If your school doesn’t use a recommender form, we will help you compile over a page worth of anecdotes to be emailed to your recommenders. The vast majority of teachers will use exactly what you give them because they want what’s best for you and don’t want to put in the extra work of thinking up their own praise if they don’t have to!

But it’s not just any anecdotes that will render you an admissible candidate at the school of your dreams. Loyal readers of our admissions blog might think they know what we’re about to say. “The anecdotes have to relate back to your singular admissions hook, right?” Not exactly.

Teachers: Your Recommendations Should Be About Your Subject, Not Extracurriculars!

Your singular admissions hook is the often small and highly unique way you will change the world once you’re on your future campus through your pursuit, passion, discipline, or cause. The most competitive college applicants highlight this hook in nearly every part of their application. But letters of recommendation need not drive home this hook. After all, your teacher doesn’t know how you spend time outside their classroom. Instead, your recommendations should focus on how you’ve demonstrated mastery over your subject matter and have a great personality to go along with it! If your singular hook involves AI, it may make sense for your Computer Science teacher to gesture to this pursuit in their recommendation, but it’s not necessary.

The anecdotes you provide for your teacher will help jog their memory of what they observed in the classroom. On the other hand, your school counselor’s recommendation should drive home your singular hook. And you better believe we will be here to help you furnish them with a comprehensive set of anecdotes that will make you irresistible to admissions officers.

Let Ivy Coach Help You Get the Best Recommendations Possible

We wouldn’t blame you if all this information makes your head spin. Focus on a singular hook but not in the teacher’s recommendations? Come across as a dedicated student but not hardworking? Leave it to our team of former elite college admissions officers to guide you through these contradictions and onto a highly selective college campus.

If you would like to optimize your child’s odds of admission to the elite school of their dreams, fill out our complimentary consultation form and we’ll be in touch.