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letters of recommendation

508: What Colleges Want (Part 7B): Recommendation Letter Crash Courses for Counselors and Teachers

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SHOW NOTES

Today’s episode is all about writing letters of recommendation for teachers and counselors. Continuing our series on What Colleges Want, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) is joined by Hanah Lim (CEG’s Director of Workshops and a former high school English teacher), where they provide their tips, tricks, and hacks to help you write more efficient and effective letters for your students.

Tom and Hanah discuss:

  • How long should letters be and what format works best? 

  • How do letters differ between counselors and teachers? 

  • What details might be helpful to include, and what should be avoided? 

  • How can teachers and counselors efficiently gather more information about their students to include in the letter?

We hope you enjoy the episode!

In case you missed it: Students and families, be sure to check out last week’s episode with Ayesha King to learn about what goes into a letter of recommendation, how they are evaluated by colleges, and who students should consider asking. 

Hanah Lim is the Director of Workshops at College Essay Guy and a former public high school English teacher. She oversees College Essay Guy's essay and application workshop team and organizes speaking events and college application and essay workshops for students at schools and organizations in the US and around the world. She has presented college essay workshops to thousands of students across diverse settings, including community-based organizations, public, international, and independent schools. She also worked as a college consultant for students in Bangkok, Thailand, directed SAT prep centers in Irvine, California and worked with non-profit groups and as an AVID teacher and coordinator to help close the achievement gap. She holds a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Education from California State University of Long Beach.  Hanah finds joy in watching musicals, visiting Disney parks with her husband, and playing with her two cats.

Play-by-play

  • 2:19 - Hanah and Tom share their school contexts for writing their letters of recommendation

  • 5:40 - How much weight do letters of recommendation hold in admission? 

  • 10:25 - What is the best practice for the length of a letter of recommendation for college? 

  • 10:57 - How should it be formatted? 

  • 14:03 - Should a letter be customized for each college?

  • 15:38 - What else is submitted with the student’s application from the high school?

    • 16:19 - What is covered in the school profile? 

    • 19:44 - What is covered in the counselor’s letter?

    • 25:25 - What is covered in the teacher's letter?

  • 30:46 - How does the Supreme Court ruling on race-conscious admission affect letters of recommendation?

  • 36:29 - What generally might be not as helpful to include in the letter?

  • 40:38 - Hanah shares her process for writing letters of recommendation

  • 49:18 - Tom shares his process for writing letters of recommendation

  • 59:01 -  How to incorporate a student’s essay brainstorming work

  • 1:01:37 - How could generative AI be utilized in the recommendation writing process?

  • 1:07:08 - Closing thoughts

ResourceS

  • Continued Learning

 

507: What Colleges Want (Part 7A): Recommendation Letter Crash Course for Students and Families

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This week, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) is joined by Ayesha King (Director of College Counseling at the International School of Los Angeles) to talk about letters of recommendation. They get into:

  • What goes into a letter of recommendation?

  • How are they evaluated by colleges?

  • Who should students consider asking, and how do they ask?

  • What can students and families do to ensure that their letters are the best they can be?

  • What are FERPA rights and why should you waive them?

Ayesha King (she/her) has over twelve years of experience in admissions at the secondary, undergraduate, and postgraduate levels, developing her values of social justice, equity and access. She is currently the Director of College Counseling at the International School of Los Angeles (LILA), a French International school, where she is stretching her skills working with students considering post-secondary options all over the world. She holds her Bachelors degree from the University of Redlands and her Masters degree from California Lutheran University. Ayesha loves spending time with her two boys and two dogs, visiting Disneyland, and talking about pop culture.

This is the next episode in our series on What Colleges Want. Stay tuned for our upcoming episode about writing letters of recommendation for teachers and counselors. Tom will be joined by Hanah Lim (CEG’s Director of Workshops and a former high school English teacher), where they provide their tips, tricks, and hacks to help you write more efficient and effective letters for your students.

We hope you enjoy the conversation! 

Play-by-play

  • 2:49 - How important are letters of recommendation to admissions officers? 

  • 5:55 - Why might it be called a “Letter of Advocacy” instead?

  • 7:19 - When would a letter of recommendation make a big impact on a student’s application?

  • 13:38 - Should students also share this important context if it’s already in their recommendation letter?

  • 15:35 - How can students determine how many letters to request?

  • 19:49 - What is being said in these letters?

  • 26:38 - Which teachers are typically the best to ask for a recommendation letter?

  • 29:51 - Why should students consider asking a teacher from a class they struggled in?

  • 30:47 - What can students do to help their teachers & counselors write the best letter possible?

  • 36:06 - What information should students share with their recommenders?

  • 39:20 - How should students ask for a letter once they have determined who to ask?

  • 44:41 - Do students ever see their letters of recommendation? 

  • 48:24 - Closing advice for parents & students

ResourceS

 

501: What Colleges Want (Part 1): A Deep Dive into the Factors Colleges Deem Important & State of College Admissions Report

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On today's episode, Ethan sits down with David Hawkins, Chief Education and Policy Officer at National Association of College Admission Counselors (aka NACAC), and they get discuss, among other things: 
What are the most important factors colleges consider? 

  • What significant changes has he seen in the college admission landscape in the past few years?

  • How has the emphasis on college essays (aka the personal statement) shifted? 

  • Why has the emphasis in standardized testing changed?

  • What have the impacts been of the Supreme Court decision to ban race conscious admission? 

  • How can students, counselors, and parents use the info in this report to make their college admission process easier? 

For over 20 years, David Hawkins has worked in enrollment management and admissions to alleviate systemic barriers to accessing higher education. Hawkins has played a key role in setting NACAC's strategic direction, which involved hearing and representing the collective voice of NACAC’s more than 25,000 high school counselors and college admission officers. His priorities include making NACAC a more effective learning organization, with an emphasis on ethics and redefining advocacy.

We hope you enjoy the conversation.

Play-by-play

  • 2:04 - Introductions

  • 3:03 - What is the State of College Admission report?

  • 5:48 - How can students, parents, and counselors use this report?

  • 9:50 - Which factors of admissions decisions are most important to colleges?

  • 13:34 - How are “positive character attributes” assessed?

  • 18:00 - What are some specific qualities that are important to colleges?

  • 20:46 - How do students show these qualities in their applications?

  • 25:33 - How has the importance of the college essay shifted in recent years?

  • 27:13 - Which colleges seem to value the essay more highly?

  • 28:47 - How does a student’s interest in attending a particular school influence admissions decisions?

  • 32:30 - How are counselor & teacher recommendations assessed?

  • 33:58 - What are admissions officers looking for in extracurricular activities?

  • 37:38 - Why is high school class rank dropping in rank of importance? 

  • 39:30 - Do colleges still want to see standardized test scores?

  • 42:52 - Quick thoughts on creative portfolios, interviews, work experience, state exam scores, and subject test scores

  • 44:49 - David shares predictions on shifts in equity and inclusion in the future of admissions

  • 48:57 - Closing thoughts 

Resources