Recommendation Letters

Recommendation letters

The office of Admissions requests letters of recommendation fromschool counselors and academic teachers so that to better understand applicantsin the context of the classroom and in their school community at large.

The most compelling letters of recommendation offer information that either expands upon something  learned from the student's application.The best recommendations are not checklists of what the student has accomplished; the best recommendations expound upon these accomplishments.

Keeping in mind there are several ways to approach a recommendation letter, those writing on behalf of a student might consider the following topics:

• How the student challenged himself/herself in a specific circumstance or set of circumstances
• How the student displayed true passion for an academic subject or activity
• How the student achieved something unprecedented in either the recommender's career or the history of the high school

Recommendations may also include any anecdote that epitomizes the student's abilities, character, and persona. Overall, letters of recommendation should provide more detailed sense of the student in and out of the classroom.