Letters of recommendation for US college applications: who writes them and what they include
Who should write your recommendation letters for a US college application, and what are those people expected to say? For a family applying from India, start by understanding the teacher's account, the school counsellor's perspective and the school's official forms. Each has a purpose. Each college also sets its own requirements, so check that your choice of letters meets the instructions of every college you apply to.
Start with the college's requirements
Common App's guidance says: "Not all colleges require a teacher letter of recommendation." Colleges using the same application platform can still ask for different letters. Read each college's instructions before deciding whom to ask or how many recommendations to arrange.
Yale, for example, requires recommendations from two teachers and one counsellor for first-year applicants. MIT also requires two teacher letters, but uses its own process for recommendations. It suggests one mathematics or science teacher and one humanities, social science or language teacher. You must submit two teacher letters; the suggested subject pairing is advice.
When planning your application, record what each college requires separately from what it recommends. This helps you, your school and your teachers see which instructions you must follow and which leave room for choice.
Teachers and counsellors offer different views
Common App describes teachers as giving a first-hand account of the applicant's intellectual curiosity and creative thinking. The focus is on what the teacher has seen of the student's learning. The letter should explain how the student thinks, going beyond marks and a list of activities.
The counsellor places the applicant in the context of the entire graduating class. Common App's recommender guide explains that teacher and counsellor recommendations show personality and strengths from different viewpoints. The teacher draws on first-hand knowledge of learning, while the counsellor brings a wider school perspective.
Use this distinction when choosing a teacher to approach. Consider who can describe your intellectual curiosity and creative thinking from experience, while meeting the particular college's requirements for a teacher recommendation.
The School Report has its own purpose
Stanford's instructions explain why the school forms need separate attention. The School Report and Counselor Recommendation are separate Common Application forms, completed by the school counsellor or another school administrator. The school official puts the letter in the Counselor Recommendation form.
The School Report gives Stanford academic context about the programmes available at the applicant's school. Stanford states that a school profile alone does not fulfil its School Report form requirement. When checking what your school will send, keep the report, the recommendation and any school profile separate.
If your school has no college counsellor, Yale's instructions say to request the recommendation from a school administrator. Families in that position can share Yale's instructions with their school when discussing who will write it.
What the letter should include
MIT's guidance to counsellors and teachers says: "Support your conclusions with facts and anecdotes whenever possible." This explains the difference between praise and evidence. When a writer describes a student's qualities, the reader learns more if they explain what led to that judgement. The facts and anecdotes should come from the writer's real experience of the student.
The same guidance asks: "Has the applicant ever experienced disappointment or failure? If so, how did they react?" This invites the writer to describe how the student handled setbacks they observed. Treat it as a prompt in MIT's guidance, not a required hardship account for every applicant or a question every Common App college asks.
Tufts describes its broad interests as "academic potential and student experiences/perspectives." Its advice connects the letter to readiness for study and what the applicant could contribute to a community. Writers should explain these qualities rather than apply a numerical formula. Together, the official guidance asks recommenders to support their judgements about learning, experiences and character with evidence.
What Indian schools describe
Schools in India offer examples of how this support works. Pathways World School Gurgaon says its career and college advisory service guides students on essays and personal statements and facilitates teacher recommendations. The advisory service helps with the process, while the teacher writes the recommendation.
The International School Bangalore describes a College Counselling & Future Pathways Program running from Grade 8 to Grade 12, supporting students and families. Its public description covers support across those grades, but leaves recommendation-letter deadlines, submission software and confidentiality rules unspecified.
Use these examples to start a conversation with your own school. Check its arrangements rather than assume international schools across India follow the same procedure. Ask how it organises teacher recommendations and who handles the school forms. Use your chosen colleges' requirements to guide the discussion.
Give the writer supporting information
Common App provides a counsellor brag sheet to help the counsellor write a more individual recommendation. The student supplies supporting information. The counsellor uses it to form and write their own account of the student.
Use the brag sheet to help the counsellor understand you, and leave the recommendation itself for them to write in their own voice. Keeping these roles clear preserves the distinct perspective described in Common App's guidance.
Assign letters and check the place for extras
In Common App's assignment process, applicants assign each teacher or other recommender to the individual colleges that should receive the recommendation. After adding a name, make sure you assign the recommendation to the intended colleges. Common App explains: "This lets you decide which colleges receive certain recommendations." Check with your school how it expects recommendations to be requested and submitted.
Check each college's rules for other recommendations too. Common App says acceptance varies by college. A programme mentor, coach or employer does not automatically replace a required academic teacher. MIT accepts an optional supplemental recommendation when it adds different or additional context, and says most applicants and most admitted students do not submit one. Before asking an additional writer, consider what they can add within the college's rules.
What this means in practice
Begin with each college's requirements, identify the appropriate teachers and school official, and give the writers useful supporting information. Check that the School Report and recommendation forms are being handled separately where required, and that letters are assigned to their intended colleges. The shared purpose is a clear account of the student, grounded in what the writers know.
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