Insights from Tran Kim-Senior, Senior Associate Director of Admissions

Each component of your application provides us with valuable insights into your potential contributions as a student and community member at Episcopal. For your application, you will need recommendations from your current English teacher, math teacher and a school administrator such as your guidance counselor, placement counselor, your head of school, or your middle school head, depending on the administrative structure at your current school. The English and Math recommendations give us a ground level view of what you are like in the classroom while the administrator recommendation gives us a bird’s eye view of who you are in your school community. Once you have created an account on either the Gateway Application or Standard Application Online portals, you will be able to request recommendation forms from your teachers. You will need their name and email address, and the application platform will send them a request to complete a recommendation for you. Here are some pro-tips on making the ask for letters of recommendation: 

• Give your teachers and school administrators plenty of time to write good letters on your behalf. Asking at least three to four weeks in advance of the deadline should give them ample time. With our January 15 deadline, you should reach out to your teachers and school administrators by mid-December;
• Keep track of when your teachers submit their recommendations. Teachers have a lot on their plates, and if you are at a school where it is uncommon for students to apply to boarding school, completing a letter of recommendation is not a routine task for them. If they have not submitted anything for you about one week from the application deadline, circle back to them with a friendly reminder; 
• Good manners go a long way in this process. Take some time to share with them your reasons for applying to boarding school and see if they have any questions for you. After the application deadline, send a note to your teachers thanking them for their time, and be sure to update them later on how the process plays out and where you decide to enroll.

Outside of the required recommendations, any additional recommendations should give us new information about you. People to consider asking are those who have coached you in a sport or instructed you on a musical instrument, someone who has mentored you closely on a passion project, or someone who knows you well in some capacity outside of school. These supplemental recommendations are not required and sticking to the required recommendations does not put you at a disadvantage in any way. If you decide to send additional recommendations with your application, aim for just one or two more.