The Counsellor Recommendation
The counsellor recommendation is the most thorough and over-arching of your recommendations. It should give a full and clear picture of you and your achievements. At Dubai College, we construct this recommendation in the following way:
Teacher and Other Recommendations
In addition to the ‘Counsellor Recommendation,’ you can have a number of other people to write nice things about you. The idea of these recommendations is to give university admissions offices a rounded view of you; different voices talking about you in different contexts.
These additional recommendations don’t necessarily carry the same weight as the counsellor recommendation (as those writing them will have been hand-picked by you), but they are nonetheless a valuable window into who you are, and how you will contribute to your future university environment.
Teacher Recommendations
You can have up to 3 teacher recommenders. Each college has specific requirements which you can find in the ‘My Colleges’ section of your common app:
The counsellor recommendation is the most thorough and over-arching of your recommendations. It should give a full and clear picture of you and your achievements. At Dubai College, we construct this recommendation in the following way:
- Your A Level subject teachers will be asked to write several paragraphs about your performance and approach to learning in their subject, sharing as much anecdotal and specific information about you as possible.
- Your tutor will put these paragraphs together, adding a paragraph about your extra-curricular involvement and their opinions, thoughts and anecdotes about you.
- I will then give this ‘base reference’ a final polish, adding my impressions of you from our meetings. I will also tailor the reference so it feels like the work of one writer (me).
- We will sit down together and read through the reference on the screen so that you can proof read it for me and ensure that the information is accurate.
- Finally I will formalise the recommendation on headed paper and add it to the common app.
Teacher and Other Recommendations
In addition to the ‘Counsellor Recommendation,’ you can have a number of other people to write nice things about you. The idea of these recommendations is to give university admissions offices a rounded view of you; different voices talking about you in different contexts.
These additional recommendations don’t necessarily carry the same weight as the counsellor recommendation (as those writing them will have been hand-picked by you), but they are nonetheless a valuable window into who you are, and how you will contribute to your future university environment.
Teacher Recommendations
You can have up to 3 teacher recommenders. Each college has specific requirements which you can find in the ‘My Colleges’ section of your common app:
Hamilton College requires 1 and allows for up to 2 teacher recommenders.
It is good to have one teacher from a humanities/arts subject and one from a science subject, but it is more important to pick the teachers who know you the best. Ideally, they will be one of your current teachers, but if you have a strong relationship with someone who used to teach you (perhaps from your old school, if you are new to DC in year 12) you may wish to ask them to write about you.
Other Recommenders
You would usually have 1 or 2 other recommenders – you will see that Hamilton College doesn’t require any, but will allow 2.
Other recommenders will know you in a different context to your teachers and could be a music teacher or sports coach, a mentor from work experience, an employer, maybe a professor you interned for or a charity organiser for whom you volunteered.
The value of these recommendations is that they show you interacting in different communities as an individual rather than as a member of a class.
I sometimes have students concerned about the ability of recommenders writing in a different language or without a high level of education to construct a strong recommendation, but these fears are unfounded. Admissions officers are judging content here, not writing ability – what is said far outweighs how it is said.
Additionally, I have a support pack that I can provide to recommendation writers and I am happy to offer advice and my proof-reading services to anyone who might be lacking in confidence with this task.
It is good to have one teacher from a humanities/arts subject and one from a science subject, but it is more important to pick the teachers who know you the best. Ideally, they will be one of your current teachers, but if you have a strong relationship with someone who used to teach you (perhaps from your old school, if you are new to DC in year 12) you may wish to ask them to write about you.
Other Recommenders
You would usually have 1 or 2 other recommenders – you will see that Hamilton College doesn’t require any, but will allow 2.
Other recommenders will know you in a different context to your teachers and could be a music teacher or sports coach, a mentor from work experience, an employer, maybe a professor you interned for or a charity organiser for whom you volunteered.
The value of these recommendations is that they show you interacting in different communities as an individual rather than as a member of a class.
I sometimes have students concerned about the ability of recommenders writing in a different language or without a high level of education to construct a strong recommendation, but these fears are unfounded. Admissions officers are judging content here, not writing ability – what is said far outweighs how it is said.
Additionally, I have a support pack that I can provide to recommendation writers and I am happy to offer advice and my proof-reading services to anyone who might be lacking in confidence with this task.