They Tell Colleges Something Different to Your Grades
When a student decides that going to college is what they want to do they're inundated with tests and grades. This is great because it keeps you honest and forces you to really learn your subjects; but there's a little more to education than passing exam after exam.
In fact, there's whole host of other things colleges care about:
- What are you like as a person?
- How have you matured over the years?
- Are there any areas that you've had to work especially hard on?
- How do you conduct your inside the classroom?
- Are you an asset to the school as a whole?
- Do you take an active part in the wider community?
These are just a few of the questions that a teacher recommendation can answer for you. Because they're written by people in authority who have seen you progress through the year groups in school, your letter will be able to show colleges a broader picture of the real you.
Colleges Want to Know How You Tackle Adversity
When you ask a college interviewer what they really want to know, they'll tell you that they want to hear how applicants handle adversity. Dealing with setbacks is a vital part of going to college because it's what will get you to the end so that you can hold your degree on graduation day.
Don't approach university thinking that it will be as easy as high school because it's a whole new world. Your college will want to know if you can:
- Cope with not being the star pupil anymore on day one
- Integrate into a new environment quickly
- Embrace the social side of college without it putting your studies too far down your list of priorities
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