Recommendations for US universities part 2

Last year, I was lucky to attend a talk by Kevin Sim, counselor of Raffles JC at USAPPS 2015.

He gave a very meaningful presentation with lots of useful advice on recommendation which I have captured on my smartphone camera. Unfortunately it is not that clear which leads me having to transcribe what he said for the benefit for all. OK here goes.

It is important to note:

-This is not an essay competition to see who can praise his/her student more

-It isn't about how well they write

-The recs are part of an essay which would include: rec, rec, rec, essay, supplement essay, academic award, honors, 10 CCAs, details of you and your parents, your school details, your standardized scores, your academic credentials, etc, etc, etc

The truth about rec writing:

-The culture of teachers writing recs
-The fact that not all teacher write well in English
-Like your essays ,we also revel in the cultural nuances/ colours that should be evident in the recommendations
-It is not there to praise you, give a laundry list of your achievements, etc (like your essay)
-It exists to give the reader a context to consider you as an applicant and to understand the rest of your application (like your essay)

How to help your teacher write a rec:

-Let them know you

-Provide them with a factsheet rather than a rec/ 10 Things You Should Know About Me

-Give them ample time

-Tell them they don't have to write the perfect essay

-If they are comfortable in writing in another language, it it fine, translate it later and submit both in one document

The Harsh Truth:

-It must be real

-It must be frank/ earnest/ honest (yes we don't really have to mention the bad things but...)
-It need not be two pages

-We hope it is a love-song/ it must be believable

-It must not be a duplicate of the rest of the app

Who

-Someone who knows you better as a student or person rather than someone who can write well

-Someone more willing to advocate their opinions of you rather than someone very politically correct, polished/ conviction over pomposity

-3 recs, 3 overlapping perspective of you as an individual

-She/ he need not to write beautifully, he/ she needs to believe you are beautiful

-They should have taught you in the last 2 years of your education IN YOUR SCHOOL

-They should be academic tutors vs. non-academic

That is basically the slideshow that he has presented but what fruitful points has he given. It was already an event that I attended last year, but his advice really impacted me. I would like to touch on a few points that he has presented which I think is absolutely vital but I might have missed out in my previous blog post.

It isn't about how well they write

Really it isn't. I think some people might be worried that the teacher they have asked for a rec might not be able to write that well in English. Well, there's good news according to Kevin. If they can't write well in English let them write in another language instead. So if you wanted to ask your Malay Language teachers or Chinese Language teachers to write your rec, please feel free to do so.

Another thing, some teachers might be stressed out over your recommendation. It is your duty to ensure that it shouldn't happen. More often than not, you would usually be rushing your teachers or "reminding" them the importance of this essay. Please go easy on your teachers and remind them gently. Also give them ample time to write up the rec. After all, good things come slow.

Provide them with a factsheet rather than a rec/ 10 Things You Should Know About Me

This is a really powerful heuristic that I have used before but one that I have totally forgotten about. One of the major problem with asking your teachers for recs is on how to give them examples to base their essay on. Some conscientious teachers who know you well might be willing to spend time with you and try their best to write a honest rec, but most would ask you to write a sample rec for them. We all know how weird it is to write about yourself in a rec, so what is the best way to push them to writing the rec for you? Write a 10 Things You Should Know About Me instead.

Even if you communicate with your teachers over the way the rec should be written, you should give them something to work with. While writing a sample rec for them is not recommended (lest you are ok with putting words into their mouths), it is the best option to writing down this list for them. They could also use some examples in the list to substantiate their claim, thus making it look like they have really known you for long!

It must not be a duplicate of the rest of the app

The recs are part of an essay which would include: rec, rec, rec, essay, supplement essay, academic award, honors, 10 CCAs, details of you and your parents, your school details, your standardized scores, your academic credentials, etc, etc, etc

 I feel that this part deserves a special highlight as it is seldom forgotten by the student that their application already included a lot of stuff. Don't make the rec another burden for the admission officer to read. That's why you should always encourage your teachers to be earnest in writing you recommendation so that it doesn't sound like you! It should describe you but in the voice of others, and that is the main point of the recommendation.

These are the few main takeaways from the USAPPS talk that I attended last year and it was definitely enlightening to those who want to apply to the US. If you are keen for more advice from Kevin Sim you can visit his blog here. This year, USAPPS is once again having their workshop on 6 and 7 August. I definitely encourage those who are interested to come attend and learn more! Visit their website here for more details