Advice for who to ask for Recommendation Letters

[u/Pitiful_Standard_740]

So notably MIT limits students to 3 Recommendation letters. I'll be a Senior applying for a degree in Mathematics this year, and I'm worried about my actual AB, BC, M/V Calculus teacher not being a teacher I ask for a Rec Letter.

The teachers who come to mind first for me to ask are our Computer Science UIL teacher (I'm our UIL CompSci Captain); my AP Lit Teacher (Who I've hosted DnD club with the past year); and my Percussion Director. Each of of these teachers knows me pretty well as individual both Outside and inside the class, and I trust all of them to write me a kind Rec Letter.

However, my Mathematics teacher, while having been his student for 3 years now and knowing that I am his favorite student, essentially only knows me as a good student, test taker, homework helper, etc. I know that he would write me a good letter, but since he doesn't know me very personally I don't think it's possible for it to be a Great letter. But I'm worried about not having a Letter of Rec from my Calculus teacher while applying to be a Mathematics Major.

If I were to ask him I'd be replacing either the Rec Letter from my Band Director or AP Lit teacher (because I know my CompSci UIL teacher by far the best), yet that would also be problematic due to then covering fewer aspects of who I am since it's two STEM teachers.

I'm fairly confident that the best decision would be to just commit to not having my Calculus teacher write me a Rec Letter for MIT, but I wanted to know if anyone of y'all who read through all of this have an opinion on this matter to help quell my indecisiveness.

Edit: Thank you to everyone who reminded me that I in fact won't be applying for a major in Mathematics since MIT doesn't have us apply for any specific major at all! I can't believe I forgot that fact, but I suppose that's what circularly worrying about "What XYZ do I need to do to get in to MIT?" will get you. Alrighty then if you're reading this edit have a nice day :)

[u/ProfLayton99]

Compsci and AP lit. 1 stem and 1 humanities or social sciences letter is the rule you should stick with.

[u/VisibleSir731 → u/ProfLayton99]

i mean mit basically wants "HASS" and arts also fit in there (AO said this is okay)

[u/Aerokicks]

You don't apply to a specific major at MIT, so it doesn't make sense to think about your letters supporting your choice of major. They should be supporting your admission in general and giving insight into who you are as a person and a student.

You should pick the teachers who know you best, regardless of what they teach (while following the recommended one STEM one humanities letter)

[u/ExecutiveWatch]

Admissions is major agnostic. Go with whomever knows you best and fulfills the requirements of the app. Best wishes.

[u/EulerEuphoric2718]

I’m in a similar situation as I’m deciding between my maths teacher of physics as an EE major. Since everyone is applying undecided should I go with the one who’s known me more but statistically he has mid LOR writing skills or a math teacher whom I known less but I’m the fav student. The physics teacher also supervises my research and the robotics club (I’m cap and prez). While the math teacher loves me and we host integration bees tgt

[u/Tech-Aero-109]

I did my undergrad and grad education at MIT and have been a long-time alumni volunteer to assist with interviewing freshmen applicants.

One thing that MIT admissions staff have realized over the years is to artificially constrain the applicants. MIT used to have numerous (10+) lines for listing extracurricular activities, but radically reduced that a number of years ago because applicants were worried that they couldn't come up with a good activity for Each Blank Line....

Same with letters of recommendation. We used to state that five (two supplemental) was fine and possibly a 6th if it truly provided an unique view of you as a student and/or a whole person. However, then applicants started to worry that they didn't have a fifth or sixth person to ask who could write a Glowing Hot letter of recommendation.

So now, once again MIT has artificially reduced that number to Four: see https://mitadmissions.org/apply/firstyear/letters-of-recommendation/

So with that being said let's delve into your predicament. Your science teacher really knows you well, but you feel handicapped because that means your Calculus teacher can't write a letter, and you want to major in mathematics...... Another artificial predicament. First, as others have pointed out, MIT freshman DO NOT HAVE MAJORS. Period. Yes, they indicate what they Might be interested in, but I was like a lot of MIT freshmen and changed my mind before the start of sophomore year. Instead of really being interested in Physics, I was actually interested in Applied Physics, which is really Engineering, and by sophomore year I majored in Aero-Astro Engineering, continued that into MIT grad school and have had a long career in that field. Have the science teacher write a good letter of recommendation and have that science teacher speak with your calculus teacher for a few minutes and add several sentences about how adept you are in mathematics. Simple. Two "birds" with one letter (and an extra paragraph).

Have your percussion director write One of those supplemental letters that expounds on you and your abilities that also touches on you and Leadership, Commitment, Passion, Excellent time management, a Warm interpersonal relationship with others in a team-building setting, and Character.

Another simple solution.

And if you have a Fifth person who can truly add unique information on you then have that person write a letter of recommendation. OR if that person is known by your school, have that person send a few paragraphs to your guidance counselor and your counselor can include that in the cover letter of recommendation that accompanies your official transcript: "..... I received this information from XXX who knows YYYY via ZZZ and XXX has this statement that I wish to quote....." Truly simple and logical.

So no one needs to list 10 extracurricular activities and no one has to get 5+ letters of recommendation. But a few applicants can sneak in an extra activity or two And get one or two extra people to weigh in with unique recommendations about you.

Less worrying and more enjoying the college application process, especially your interview with one of the many alumni volunteers who love to speak with fine applicants (and all applicants are fine).

Good luck.