今天是北京时间的11月1日，同样也是纽约波士顿华盛顿蒙哥马利洛杉矶旧金山西雅图时间的11月1日，是很多学校早申请的deadline。如果同学，你还没有准备好你的申请材料，不要方。来看TD创作计划作者Molina同学分享的推荐信创作技巧，咱把申请材料准备好了之后再去拼RD也真真是极好的呀！[完美]
本文是TD「创作计划」第036号文章，如果你有表达和写作的欲望，希望获得更多的影响力，或者希望赚到一些有诚意的稿费，快👉戳这里入坑。
推荐信是申请表里很关键的一部分，即使招生官对中国学生的信任在下降——绝大部分招生官都知道推荐信是学生自己写的。那么，如何让自己的推荐信使自己从千万申请者中脱颖而出？
大学通常会要求提交两至三封推荐信：一封来自于学生的 counselor（班主任），两封来自于学生的任课老师（有些学校要求文理科老师各一位）。有些学校接受other推荐信，这个可以是你某项课外活动的督导老师或者合作者，也可以是国家主席。
最佳的推荐人，必须是十分了解学生，并且能为学生写出一份细致，独特，个性化的推荐信的人。
寻找你认为高大上的推荐人（校长，教授等）
但是这个的前提条件是你必须与推荐人有较好的关系，推荐人比较了解你，否则写出的推荐信没有细节，千篇一律，反而对申请有坏处。
但是如果你的推荐人之一是最高国家领导人，那就另当别论了。我认识一个TOP5学校招生办工作过的学姐。她告诉我他们在挑选第一批admitted申请人时，有一个人的SAT成绩离这个学校的minimum score差200多分，按理说应该会无条件地被拒绝（连文书都不看），但是AO看了看他/她的推荐人之一署名为欧洲某国家的最高领导人，于是把这个申请表直接放到了admitted分类里面。
但是，人家就是这么厉害，我们普通的申请者有什么办法呢~
寻找对自己非常了解的，能直接用英文写的老师
很多学校的外教或者英语老师是极佳候选人。我跟我们学校的外教都很熟，但是其中有一个外教对我可以说是了如指掌。
我们平常会约着一起打球，谈天说地，我教他简单的编程，他教我世界历史等，特别是我们还一起创了一个论坛。这样的话，无论是从我的性格，待人处事方面，还是我的工作能力方面，极佳的素材顺手拈来。我只需要在起稿前跟他谈论推荐信的主题就可以了。
PS: 外教教哪一门就以那一门老师的名义写；或者以other推荐人写。这取决于你自己。我非常相信我的外教而且我其他的推荐信都是自己撰写的，所以我让的外教以我的英语口语老师的名义写。
任课老师
这个的选择就比较广了。大陆的学生可以在语数外理化生政史地音体美劳老师中选。根据自己的专业意向（比如申艺术的学生可以考虑美术音乐老师），文理科搭配以及老师对自己的了解程度进行选择。
我是班里的生物课代表，平常跟生物老师的沟通非常多，老师甚至让我成为下一届生物选修课的老师，平时还会给我提供去生物实验室做实验的特权等。那这样的话生物老师一定是我推荐人之一了。
但是有些学生在高二就脱产了，并且跟所有老师的沟通都不多，最多就是问一些学习生活方面的问题。这种情况，学生就根据自己的专业意向，课外活动以及自己喜欢的科目选择，并且考虑自己平时在什么课堂上比较活跃。
在征得任课老师的同意后，自己开始撰写推荐信（有些地方是中介代写）。至于要不要把成稿给老师，根据老师的意思做。
注意事项
内容客观公正。以详细的事实（如课堂学生提出的问题，课后的探索等）来体现学生的某个特点，不推荐使用空洞的词语来形容学生，如 remarkable, good。
每封信内容上要有 侧重点，着重于一到两个方面。重点突出学生与众不同的方面。
推荐信不是个性介绍，而要突出学生在哪个方面的学术成就以及能力。
寻找闪光点
班主任主要负责介绍学生的个人能力，而任课老师主要介绍学生在某个学科上的学术能力。学生写的时候可以从以下几个方面考虑：
突出的个人能力；
参与的学校的活动；
我在班级或学校担任的职务；
领导合作能力(包括人际交往能力)；
获得的荣誉（学科成绩；课堂以及课后特出的表现；与老师的互动）
但！是！
要解释为什么你有资格作为推荐人（自我介绍，对学生的了解程度）
范例1：
Dear Admissions Committee, （问候语）
It is hard to overstate the meaningful contributions that William has made to our school and surrounding community. As both his 10th and 11th grade History teacher, I've had the pleasure of seeing William make profound contributions both in and out of the classroom. (说明自己与学生的关系)His school and community service is motivated by a strong sense of social justice, which he informs through a nuanced and sophisticated understanding of historical trends and events. （学术方面的整体评价）I can say with confidence that William is one of the most caring and driven students I've ever taught in my fifteen years at the school.
As a child of immigrant parents, William is especially drawn to understand the immigrant experience. He produced an extraordinary semester-long research paper on the treatment of Japanese-Americans in the U.S. during WWII, in which he went beyond all expectations to conduct Skype interviews with relatives of his featured subjects to incorporate into his paper. William has a great capacity to draw connections between past and present and to ground his understanding of current issues in the context of historical events. He never retreats to a simple answer or explanation, but is comfortable dealing with ambiguity. William's fascination with U.S. and World History and skill for deep analysis have him an exemplary scholar, as a well as a motivated activist driven to promote civil rights and work towards social equity. （用具体的例子来支撑观点，注重于学生在历史方面的学术能力）
In sophomore year, William noticed that the college planning seminars students attended included little information for first generation or immigrant students. Always thinking about how institutions can better serve people, William spoke with counselors and ESL teachers about his ideas to better support all students. He helped collect resources and design a college planning curriculum for immigrant and undocumented students to enhance their college access. He further helped organize a group that connected ESL students with native English speakers, stating his mission to be helping ELLs improve their English and increasing multicultural awareness and social cohesion at the school as a whole. William identified a need and worked with students and faculty alike to meet it in an extremely effective and beneficial way. Ever the history scholar, he did plenty of research to back up his ideas.（课外活动，体现学生的组织领导能力）
William believes passionately in social progress and working for the common good. His own personal experiences, along with his profound grasp on social history, drive his advocacy work. He is a talented, intelligent student with the charisma, confidence, strong values, and respect for others to make a huge difference in the world around him. （对学生整个人的总体评价）I'm looking forward to seeing all the good that William continues to do for his fellow humanity in college and beyond, as well as the excellent work that he will produce at the college level.（表达推荐意愿） William has my highest recommendation. If you have any questions, please contact me at thethingstheycarried@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Mr. Jackson 姓名
History Teacher 职位
Martin Luther King, Jr. High School 所在的学校
范例2：诚实是金
I do not really know Mike very well. He has come to me for routine matters, but generally has not had any problems that he has discussed with me. In this large school, I do not always have the time to personally get to know each of my advisees. From the comments I get from Mike's teachers, I have the impression that he is one of the strongest students this school has seen.
MIT：We do not learn very much from this report, but we understand why. The counselor is very honest and we are not left guessing as to the reason there is not more information and will turn our attention to other parts of the application.
来来来，看看反例
Brian 永远是我班上的前五名。他对学习十分有动力。他的个性很招人喜欢。Brian 是一名很优秀的学生，努力的工作着，并有着超乎常人的能力。
这样的推荐信招生官看完之后，心情应该是这样的，
嗯，大概就是这么多。
希望大家得到自己满意的推荐信~申请快乐！
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