Lisa in TN
07-16-2008, 01:17 PM
Does anybody have suggestions on how to get strong letters of recommendation when the student's adult mentors are not strong writers themselves?
This fall, ds plans to apply for a summer program that requires academic letters of recommendation. A year later, he'll need them for college applications. So what are his options?
* One teacher has written letters for him a couple of times before. Unfortunately, this teacher tends to list items from ds's resume without providing any personal insight (i.e., "I worked with this student on Project X. This project won Awards A, B and C.") This type of letter strikes me as rather neutral – it may not hurt, but it doesn't add anything to ds's application beyond what is already given on his activities list.
* Another adult mentor apparently feels so intimidated at the idea of writing a letter that he asked us to write the letter ourselves, saying whatever we wanted to say, and then he would sign it. I didn't feel comfortable with this suggestion.
* His Scout leaders tend to be classic good ol' boys, skilled in the great outdoors but not known for letter-writing.
* He has done well in several online classes, but the teachers have never met him face-to-face.
* He will be taking a couple of on-campus classes this fall at a community college. We will probably rely on these teachers for recommendations, but they will have known him for only a couple of months when the letters are due.
It feels like a bit of a Catch-22. Strong letters of recommendation may be more important for homeschoolers than they are for traditionally schooled students. At the same time, homeschoolers may have fewer options for getting those letters written. Most of the adult mentors are familiar with only a limited slice of the homeschooler's life – for example, the student's performance in a single class or activity.
I believe the writing skills of the letter-writer can make a huge difference. It wasn't a problem for my humanities-oriented dd; her outside teachers tended to be good writers who provided strong letters. However, ds is more focused on math and science, and the written word doesn't seem to come as easily to his mentors. I'm not sure how to get letters that really add that "wow" factor to his applications.
This fall, ds plans to apply for a summer program that requires academic letters of recommendation. A year later, he'll need them for college applications. So what are his options?
* One teacher has written letters for him a couple of times before. Unfortunately, this teacher tends to list items from ds's resume without providing any personal insight (i.e., "I worked with this student on Project X. This project won Awards A, B and C.") This type of letter strikes me as rather neutral – it may not hurt, but it doesn't add anything to ds's application beyond what is already given on his activities list.
* Another adult mentor apparently feels so intimidated at the idea of writing a letter that he asked us to write the letter ourselves, saying whatever we wanted to say, and then he would sign it. I didn't feel comfortable with this suggestion.
* His Scout leaders tend to be classic good ol' boys, skilled in the great outdoors but not known for letter-writing.
* He has done well in several online classes, but the teachers have never met him face-to-face.
* He will be taking a couple of on-campus classes this fall at a community college. We will probably rely on these teachers for recommendations, but they will have known him for only a couple of months when the letters are due.
It feels like a bit of a Catch-22. Strong letters of recommendation may be more important for homeschoolers than they are for traditionally schooled students. At the same time, homeschoolers may have fewer options for getting those letters written. Most of the adult mentors are familiar with only a limited slice of the homeschooler's life – for example, the student's performance in a single class or activity.
I believe the writing skills of the letter-writer can make a huge difference. It wasn't a problem for my humanities-oriented dd; her outside teachers tended to be good writers who provided strong letters. However, ds is more focused on math and science, and the written word doesn't seem to come as easily to his mentors. I'm not sure how to get letters that really add that "wow" factor to his applications.