Letters of Recommendation

What You Need (and don't need...)

Two-Year College Applicants: Letters of recommendation are only required for RVCC Honors College and for scholarship applications.

Four-Year College Applicants: While YMMV, plan for:

  • Counselor letter of recommendation (may not be required for all schools)

  • Two teacher letters of recommendation (may not be required for all schools)

BUT, some schools do not accept any letters. These include: Rutgers, Penn State, WVU, the UC system, the University of Florida, and more - notice, lots of BIG schools. Some of these schools do want letters for Honors applicants. Note: Rutgers never accepts letters!

Most students do NOT need more than two letters, and should not plan to ask 4-5 teachers for letters of recommendation. Some students may need a third letter IF a particular school wants letters from certain subject areas (e.g. MIT, Princeton).

Counselor Letter of Recommendation

Your counselor will write a letter for you if at least one of your schools requires a letter.

You must:

  • Complete the Profile in SCOIR with your Activities/Achievements (you can do this starting now!)

  • Ask two teachers to complete a Teacher to Counselor Feedback form - these are NOT the same teachers who will write your teacher letters) (give teachers this link)

  • Complete the Brag Sheet in SCOIR by *at least* 2 weeks before your deadlines. We will open this up for students in late Spring. This is a great thing to do over the summer!

  • Have a parent/guardian complete the Parent Point of View (same place in SCOIR)

Your counselor will use all of this information, as well as their knowledge of you, to write a counselor letter for you.

Teacher Letters of Recommendation

Quick Video - How to Request Teacher Letters of Recommendation in SCOIR

The Counseling department recommends that students ask TWO teachers for letters of recommendation by the end of junior year.

You should:

  • concentrate on junior/senior year teachers, where possible. If not possible, go back to Sophomore year.

  • get at least one from a teacher in a core academic area

  • ask in person (virtually!) or over email FIRST

  • supply whatever information the teacher requests

  • then request in SCOIR

Additional Letters of Recommendation

Quick Video - How to Request Outside Letters in Common App

Additional letters are not needed for most applicants. Some colleges will accept additional letters, but MANY others will not. Additional letters should ADD to your application. They should not be "more of the same". You should first check to see if your colleges will accept additional letters before you ask someone!

Outside letters of recommendation are best submitted by the recommender through the Common App system or sent directly to the college. Mrs. Thomson or your counselor can assist with this in the Fall. Please do not ask more than 1 outside recommender - you will rarely have the opportunity to submit more than one!

Note: Applicants applying to BS/MD programs often need additional letters of recommendation from very specific people