Tips To Get Your College Recs: Fail-Safe for the Fools

Dear juniors, 

As the second semester begins and you grow ever closer to the dreaded college admissions process, you probably have a lot of questions. Who am I? Why did I choose to come to Stuyvesant, where GPAs are unweighted and college admissions officers compare us directly to our overachieving classmates? What college will want little old me? Why is this random article trying so hard to stress me out? We don’t have all the answers, but we do have some tips for the first step in this journey: securing stellar letters of recommendation from your teachers. Welcome to your completely fail-safe, totally real, extremely accurate, and scientifically-proven list of suggestions for getting the college recommendation letter of your dreams. 

1. STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD

Do you really want to be one of those people who comes into class with everyone else the second the teacher opens the door? No! The bell doesn’t decide when to go to class—you do. Reject the starting-bell crowd and come AT LEAST 15 minutes late each day, making a fashionable entrance that interrupts the entire class and forces your teacher to acknowledge your presence. 

2. GET CLOSE WITH YOUR TEACHER

Follow your rec-writing target around and never let them out of your sight. Follow their Instagram, call their mother every weekend, pencil their therapy sessions into your calendar, etc. And if you really want a shot at Harvard, attend their kid’s music recitals! 

3. LET THEM KNOW YOU’RE COMFORTABLE IN THEIR CLASS

Make sure they know you feel at home. How do you let them know? Well, just do what you’d do at home. Bring in a couple of blankets, a pillow, or even an inflatable sofa. Curl up on the sofa you’ve dragged in and assemble a charcuterie board. If you’re in a lab room, activate the chemical shower after a hard day’s work, rinse off, and then go to bed on that big ol’ plastic sofa. After all, they do say school should feel like a second home.

If they see how comfortable you are in their class, they’ll feel more encouraged to write you a loving letter of recommendation. 

4. MAKE YOURSELF LOVABLE

You need to gaslight your teacher into thinking this is anywhere near the truth. This means flirting with everyone in your class so they know just how lovable you are. It definitely won’t earn you any eye-rolls from your romantically-confused peers. Seriously, keep batting your eyes and see where it gets you. Take time to lock eyes with that one person sitting nearby who’s just trying to pass the class and get a decent amount of sleep—the best way to kill the competition is with kindness, and God knows they’d be lucky if you so much as glanced in their direction.

5. GIVE YOUR TEACHER GIFTS

“But everyone does that,” you might say. Everyone sees the boxes upon boxes of chocolate arranged in neat little arrays on their overcrowded desks. So what you need to do is take it one step further—give  your teacher a gift every single day. Every. Single. Day. And what teacher would even look at a box of chocolates if they received something bigger and better? Gift a fridge, for example. Gift a car, perchance. If you really want to bring food like the rest of the crowd, you can leave a whole supply of egg sandwiches in their desk drawer for them to discover.

6. ENGAGE IN HEART-TO-HEART CONVERSATIONS WITH THEM

Every teacher wants to hear about your failed situationships, especially with their other students! I mean, do you really think it’s a coincidence that they keep pairing you up with the same hottie for partner work? A guaranteed rec if you ask them to sit you next to your crush! A GREAT one if you ask to be next to your ex so you can get revenge!

Well, we hope you’ll take these tips to heart and discover just how effective they can be. Because we definitely aren’t juniors in their first semester who barely understand what a rec even is… yeah, we’re not responsible for anything that might go wrong. See you at Harvard!