9 Rules For Requesting Letters of Recommendation from Teachers
While you’re navigating high school and your classes, you should try to make a good impression and
form a good relationship with each of your teachers. Not only will this make it easier to ask for help and
navigate your classes throughout high school, but it will also give you a plethora of options to choose
from when deciding which teachers are going to write your recommendation letters.
Ideally, the teacher who writes your recommendation has known you for a long time, thinks you are a
great student and a great candidate for college, and has some positive experiences with you that her or
she can talk about. Once you’ve identified which teachers fit that profile best, you need to kindly and
thoughtfully request a letter of recommendation from them, preferably at the beginning of your senior
year or earlier.
When it comes time to request letters of recommendation, you need to make sure you do it right. After
all, teachers are busy, they don’t get paid for writing your letter of recommendation, and they probably
have many other students asking them for letters of recommendation as well. You want to make sure
you ask your teacher to write you a recommendation well ahead of time and in a kind and respectful
manner so that he or she agrees.
In order to ensure the best possible recommendation letters for your college applications, make sure to
follow these nine guidelines for requesting a letter of recommendation. As long as you do the following,
your teacher is unlikely to turn you down!
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Rule 1: Plan Ahead
Ideally, you should know which teachers you want to write your recommendation letters well in advance
of the start of your college applications. By the end of your junior year, start thinking about which
teachers you have had the greatest relationships with throughout your high school career. Try to narrow
it down to the 2 or 3 teachers whom you think would be the best to ask.
Some teachers are kind enough to accept recommendation letter requests during the summer before
your senior year so that they have ample time to write you a great letter. Those teachers are incredible,
so be sure be sure to catch them and ask before summer vacation starts.
For those teachers who are willing to write you a letter but will need to wait until the Fall, make sure to
ask them at the beginning of your senior year, or at least ask them a few months before the application
deadline. This way, they’ll have ample time to put together a good letter for you. Advanced notice is
crucial if you want to get a good letter.
Rule 2: Ask Nicely
Remember, writing recommendation letters is not part of a teacher’s job. If a teacher agrees to write you
a letter, he or she is doing it purely out of the goodness of his/her heart. You should be grateful for this
and take this into consideration when asking your teachers.
Thus, asking for a recommendation letter shouldn’t just be a two sentence email telling them that they
have to write you a letter. If you can, take the time to stop by their classroom, chat with them, catch up,
and then ask politely whether they have the time/would be willing to help you get into college by writing
you a letter of recommendation. Show that you are asking them to do this for you because you trust
them and they were one of your favorite teachers.
If asking your teacher in person is not an option and you have to request a letter of recommendation by
email, make sure that it is written formally and kindly. Be sure to include some updates on your life and
other relevant information in the email along with some nice compliments about your teacher’s teaching
style and some fond memories you have of him/her.
Rule 3: Ask What Kind of Letter You Might Get
The unfortunate truth is that not all recommendation letters are created equal. Some teachers take the
time to write extraordinary letters that absolutely shower a student with praise. These are the teachers
you want to try to find sooner rather than later.
Other teachers may write a generic letter, a short letter, or they may even just get a template letter off of
the internet. Usually, a teacher will be honest about what kind of letter they are going to write if you ask
them. If they tell you you won’t get a personalized letter from them, it’s not that they don’t mean well.
Rather, some teachers are just busier than others and some have more experience in writing
recommendation letters than others.
Keep in mind that when you’re asking what kind of letter you might get, you need to make sure you
phrase it correctly. Don’t ask your teacher whether she or he is going to write you a good letter or a bad
letter or whether your teacher spends a lot of time on each letter. Just ask your teacher how they usually
format their letters or what kind of information about the student they like to add in their letters. That’ll
probably give you all the indication you need for what kind of letter this teacher would write for you.
Rule 4: Be Professional
While you’re corresponding with the teacher who is writing your recommendation letter, don’t be sloppy.
Remember that this teacher is evaluating you for a college, and they will probably draw on the most
recent experiences they can remember with you. Thus, you need to make sure that the interactions you
have while they’re writing your letter or when you ask for a letter are professional, kind, and well-
mannered.
More specifically, this means that if you’re emailing a teacher, make sure it is a professional email with
no grammatical mistakes and spelling errors. It should also be formatted correctly, as discussed in
our comprehensive guide to e-mail etiquette for high schoolers. If you’re talking to the teacher in person,
you don’t have to be too formal, but you should make sure you are polite, well-dressed, and well-
mannered throughout the interaction.
Rule 5: Include Relevant Details
While you’re asking for a letter, you should be sure to bring up some memories that you had with
him/her to help job his/her memory and remember you as a student. Bring up a specific experience you
had with your teacher that you really enjoyed or something she/he taught you that you haven’t forgotten
all this time.
You should also give your teacher all the logistical information her or she will need to write this letter, like
your GPA, class rank, unofficial transcript, and most importantly, the deadline for when this letter is due.
You want the teacher to leave the conversation feeling like they have more than enough information to
write you a great letter of recommendation.
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Rule 6: Follow Up
After you talk with your teacher and he/she agrees to write you a letter of recommendation, don’t just
leave it there. Be sure to send them an email or some more informal form of communication thanking
them again for agreeing to write a recommendation letter and asking if there is any information about
you that they need to write a great recommendation.
You can also contact them periodically before the letter is due to make sure they haven’t forgotten to
write you the letter. You can remind them about the application due date, see if the letter is in progress,
and ease some of the anxiety you might be feeling as you wait for the letter to be finished.
Rule 7: Make It Easy
You can’t just ask someone to write you a recommendation letter and give them nothing to work with.
You have to give them something like your resume or something else that’ll give them some background
about you, what your skills and abilities are, and and what you’ve been up to for the past four years. A
good teacher will incorporate that information into their letter and link it to his/her own experiences with
you as a student.
Rule 8: Send a Reminder
Teachers aren’t perfect. Even if a teacher agrees to write a letter of recommendation and gives you
every assurance that it will happen on time, they may forget as time passes or they may not submit the
letter by the deadline. It’s up to you to check in with the teachers that you’ve asked to write your
recommendation letters and make sure that they haven’t forgotten.
You don’t have to check in too often. In fact, repeatedly bugging your teachers about the letter may
annoy them. Wait a few weeks at a time before sending a quick email to check on the progress. Don’t
make it a long email. Just a few sentences is fine so as not to waste your teacher’s time. If the deadline
gets close and your teacher still hasn’t finished the letter, you can start contacting them a bit more
frequently. Still, be conscious and respectful of your teachers’ responsibilities. After all, your letter is
probably not the most important thing on their mind.
Rule 9: Say Thank You
Once your teacher has written your recommendation letter, it is so important that you thank them for
taking the extra time and effort to help you with their college applications. A simple email may not be
enough in this case. Many students opt to give a little gift like a gift card or something homemade like a
card to show their appreciation.
Sadhvi Mathur
Senior Blogger
Short Bio
Sadhvi is a recent graduate from the University of California, Berkeley, where she double majored in
Economics and Media Studies. Having applied to over 8 universities, each with different application
platforms and requirements, she is eager to share her knowledge now that her application process is
over. Other than writing, Sadhvi's interests include dancing, playing the piano, and trying not to burn her
apartment down when she cooks!
