Recommendation letters: an unfair part of college admissions
Mar 4, 2016 21:48:52 GMT -5
Mayleng likes this
Post by healthy11 on Mar 4, 2016 21:48:52 GMT -5
www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/03/03/letters-of-recommendation-an-unfair-part-of-college-admissions/
As one admissions rep points out, "Imagine you’re 17 again, and you have to ask teachers to write a letter for you. What do you know about how well a particular teacher writes? Do you know what a “good” letter contains? Do you even understand that the spectrum of writing ability almost certainly varies widely among teachers, as it does with any group of professionals? In all probability, you just have to trust yourself, flying blind in a process you get to go through just once.
This seems grossly unfair: The letter has virtually nothing to do with the student’s performance, and a lot to do with the teacher’s ability to turn a phrase, note interesting character traits, structure a cogent series of paragraphs that tell a story, and even throw in a few instances of discordia concors to show his or her own wit and charm. In short, it’s as much about the teacher as the student. Is that the intent?"
As one admissions rep points out, "Imagine you’re 17 again, and you have to ask teachers to write a letter for you. What do you know about how well a particular teacher writes? Do you know what a “good” letter contains? Do you even understand that the spectrum of writing ability almost certainly varies widely among teachers, as it does with any group of professionals? In all probability, you just have to trust yourself, flying blind in a process you get to go through just once.
This seems grossly unfair: The letter has virtually nothing to do with the student’s performance, and a lot to do with the teacher’s ability to turn a phrase, note interesting character traits, structure a cogent series of paragraphs that tell a story, and even throw in a few instances of discordia concors to show his or her own wit and charm. In short, it’s as much about the teacher as the student. Is that the intent?"