Requesting a Letter of Recommendation

Letter of Recommendation 2023-2024

Letters of recommendation are an important part of many college and scholarship applications. This page will give you all the information you need to initiate this process with your counselor and your teachers. 

Many college and scholarship applications require one or more letters of recommendation from teachers and a letter of recommendation from your counselor. If you are reading this before your senior year, keep this in mind! It’s important for your counselor and your teachers to get to know you so they can write the strongest letters possible.

How do I request letters of recommendation? 

1. First, identify whether you need letters of recommendation or not. Many schools (like Oregon State University and University of Oregon) do not require letters and will not review them while assessing your application. Because our teachers receive so many letter requests, we try to avoid “just in case” letters. If you realize you will need a letter of recommendation for a scholarship or college application, we need to give teachers three weeks of time before the due date, so it’s important not to procrastinate this process.

2. Download and complete the Letter of Recommendation packetPreview the document.

3. Contact your counselor to set up a College Appointment. Complete your Letter of Recommendation packet prior to this meeting, if possible.

4. At your college appointment, you’ll be able to discuss which teachers you are hoping will write you letters and talk about your application deadlines.

5. Your counselor will work with the Career Center (Cliff Kirkpatrick) to distribute your Letter of Recommendation Packet plus your transcript (and any other supporting materials) to your teachers. We will also let your teachers know about the earliest deadline.

6. You will invite your teachers (and counselor) to be recommenders on Common App, Coalition, or the college’s application webpage. Teachers will upload their letters directly to the appropriate website and provide the Counseling Center with a copy of the letter for future use.