by Lily Bohlke

As seniors begin to think about what needs to be done in order to apply for college, asking teachers for recommendations is usually on the forefront of their minds.

Many students who are applying to college ask one or two teachers, usually teachers who taught them as juniors, to write a letter of recommendation to accompany their applications.

According to senior Abigail Herscovici, it is necessary to consider many elements of one’s relationship with each teacher to make the decision.

“I chose teachers that I liked, and teachers I felt knew me as a student,” senior Abigail Herscovici said. “I also chose teachers who I felt their understanding of me was not just limited to schoolwork. And teachers whose classes I was doing well in.”

“I thought about in which classes I behaved the best, did the most homework, and got the best grades,” senior Ivan Laryionenka said.

After a student makes the decision and asks the teacher, the teacher has to decide whether they think they are the right person to write such a crucial letter.

“If I don’t think I can write a letter that’s going to be an asset to somebody’s application, I kind of have to say no,” biology teacher Brad Kozel said.

When Kozel has concerns about whether he should write for someone, he sits down and has a conversation with the student, and the outcome of that conversation is a “decision on a case-by-case basis,” he said.

In the Social Justice Leadership Program, according to history and Social Justice teacher Roger Grande, classes talk about topics that allow him to get to know students on a deeper level, which makes it hard for him not to be excited about writing a recommendation for one of the students.

“I always share my letter with the student,” he said. “That’s meaningful for me.”

If Kozel feels that a student has not asked him soon enough, and he feels like he has too many to write already, he might say no.

“At some point there’s just not enough time in the day,” Kozel said.

Even after deciding to write a college recommendation, Grande said it can be challenging to put ideas about a student together. Kozel prefers that students ask him in the spring before their senior year so that he has time to collect his thoughts.

“It’s a task that’s in the long list of things I have to do,” Kozel said. “I wouldn’t say yes if I hated writing them.”

According to the Princeton Review, colleges want letters of recommendation in order to understand things about the student that might not be evident from a transcript. They want to see a student as “more than a statistic.” Because of this, it is important for a recommendation to set a student apart.

According to Laryionenka, a letter of recommendation can be very effective if the teacher is honest. If the letter seems generic, however, it has no purpose.

“Saying they were a great student isn’t helpful because that is made clear by the transcript and all of the other things that accompany it,” Kozel said. “My formula is to try to share something more unique about the student’s experience in the class.”

Lily Bohlke can be contacted at [email protected]