Description: Watch an Informational Video on How to Get the Right Teacher Recommendations. Learn which Teacher to Ask and How to Approach Them.

Transcription: Friend: Hey, Michelle, who are you going to ask to write your letters of recommendation?

Michelle: I was thinking of asking my English teacher from junior year, Mr. Wilson.

Friend: Oh, nice. Do you have a good relationship with Mr. Wilson?

Michelle: Well, I got an “A” in his class.

Friend: Did you speak up a lot in class discussions?

Michelle: I got an “A” in his class.

Friend: But the college can see that on your transcript. What is Mr. Wilson going to write about if you don’t have a good relationship? If you didn’t speak up in his class? Did your
papers really move him? Was your writing exceptional?

Michelle: I did well on tests. I don’t know. I’d rather have Mr. Wilson write a letter for me, whose class I got an “A” in, than Ms. Weinstock because I didn’t get an “A” in Ms. Weinstock’s AP Bio class. I got a “B+.”

Friend: I think you’re making a mistake. I have been working with The Ivy Coach, and I have learned that you shouldn’t get a recommendation from a teacher just because you did well in that teacher’s class. It is actually better to get a recommendation from the teacher whose class you got a “B+” in but in whose class you spoke up and contributed to the class discussion. Maybe that teacher will write how hard you worked and how much you cared about the class and loved to learn. The teacher in whose class you got an “A” in may not have these kinds of things to write about. It is possible you stood out more in the class you got a “B+” in.

Michelle: Where did you learn this from?

Friend: My parents hired a college consultant, The Ivy Coach at www.TheIvyCoach.com. The Ivy Coach services have really bolstered my applications to competitive colleges. You should look into it.

Michelle: Thanks.