When do I need to ask my teachers for letters of recommendation?
Hello! Great question, and good for you for planning ahead! Certainly, the best time to ask a teacher for a letter of recommendation is during the time frame when you’re in their class— and then again at the beginning of your application cycle. In the United States, the application cycle runs from August to April of the year before you wish to attend your new college or university program.
Here’s an example, let’s say you are a senior in high school: your application cycle goes from August to April of your senior year (if you wish to attend college the following year). Undergraduate freshman applications start to open up for American schools in August, and for European and Canadian schools it’s usually a bit later around October. But every school is different, so be sure to check your dates!
Most undergraduate freshman applications in the U.S. are due anywhere from October 1 to April 1, but some are even later, especially if they have rolling admissions. Rolling admission just means they will keep accepting applications until all the freshman spots are full. European and Canadian undergraduate freshman application deadlines are usually somewhere around Christmas all the way into April, but again, be sure to check your dates and establish a clear timeline. I can help you with all this— feel free to reach out and schedule a consultation with me!
Deadlines for graduate school applications (in the U.S. and Europe and Canada) are usually a little bit later than undergraduate application deadlines, and most range from December to April. (This is an approximation to give you an idea of the general time frame, but please, check your dates well in advance so you know what to do!)
Back to the topic of letters of recommendation: be sure to check and see if your high school or undergraduate program has a process for this. Some schools have a system for how you request letters of recommendation. This is important because you want to make sure you request your letters in time!
Is there a bad time to ask for a letter of recommendation? Not really, but it’s not very realistic to request your letters of rec a week before your applications are due. You want to be sure your teachers and professors have enough time to send them off. A good policy is to think of the teachers. They have a huge workflow that gets underway by the end of September and into October (hello midterms!), so asking teachers for a letter of rec before the end of September will give them a chance to manage the task. Because, after all, you’re probably not the only student requesting a letter of rec!
Let me know if you need any help with strategizing your academic plans! Feel free to email me and we can get started right away! Making sure that every part of your application process is completed correctly and on time is important. I can guide you through your college application journey from beginning to end.
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