How to Upload Peer Reccomendation to Darmouth Portal

Choose your friends wisely, they say...because they might be getting you into college. Granted, that phrase probably didn't originate in the world of competitive college admissions, just information technology applies to Dartmouth and Davidson, both of which require peer recommendations along with the traditional teacher and counselor recs.

Your peers can (and are expected to) give a unlike perspective than your teachers and counselors. This guide volition get over the exact requirements for peer evaluations, along with advice on who you can inquire and how to ensure a potent peer recommendation for your higher applications.

To start, which schools want a peer letter of rec, and what are they looking for?

Requirements for Peer Recommendations

The but two schools that require peer recs so far are Dartmouth and Davidson (well, Dartmouth just "strongly encourages" that yous ship one, merely that's the same as required when you're applying to such a selective school). Some students also opt to provide supplemental peer evaluations to other colleges, especially if their teacher or advisor rec letters are lacking in deep insight or information. I would advise caution near this—admissions officers unremarkably don't savor too much extra material unless it actually adds an important dimension to The Story of You.

For Dartmouth, your peer evaluation can come from much pretty much anybody, whether it's a friend, fellow student, co-worker, or sibling. Dartmouth says,

"You lot might ask a friend from school, or camp, or your neighborhood. It might exist a teammate, someone from your community of faith, or a co-worker. Peradventure a cousin, a sibling: information technology doesn't matter. Nosotros don't want another letter from a teacher, bus, or other supervisory presence in your life; we have enough of those. Ask a peer who can provide fresh insight into your interests and your grapheme.

Davidson, on the other hand, seems to adopt that the peer remain outside the family and be a classmate or friend. They say,

"This Peer Recommendation is to be completed by a classmate or shut friend who knows the applicant well and tin evaluate the applicant'south strengths. This recommendation tin can provide useful information in ascertaining the competitiveness of the applicant. Y'all, as a shut friend or classmate, know the bidder in a different way than practise teachers, counselors, principals, and advisors. Your insights will help united states to understand the nature and extent of the respect accorded to the applicant by peers. Since Davidson tin select just a small number of the full bidder pool to fill up each year's entering class, your assessment of this applicant's strengths and weaknesses volition be important in our conclusion."

Both Dartmouth and Davidson are hoping the peer evaluation will provide fresh insight into the bidder'south character and personality. Rather than speaking to your academic achievement and potential, peer recs can talk over your personal qualities and passions, forth with who yous are equally a friend and how you lot'll collaborate and contribute socially on campus. This is an important and distinct shift from teacher and counselor recommendations, which tend to be more formal and focused on by achievements and future potential.

Before delving deeper into exactly what admissions committees are looking for in peer recommendations, permit's conclude these logistics with data on how to submit. Dartmouth will have you lot add your peer recommender using the "Other Recommender" tab on the Mutual Application. Your friend or relative volition upload his/her letter onto the Common App.

Davidson asks peer recommenders to upload their messages here. In add-on to the statement of support, recommenders are asked to rank you on a number of character traits and personal qualities, such as your leadership, energy and initiative, self-confidence, business organisation for others, and reaction to criticism. While the additional statement seems optional, but saying, "Nosotros welcome any boosted statement you wish to brand almost the applicant," information technology'southward important that your peer recommender give a thoughtful response. That's the main part of the peer evaluation.

Apart from getting a sense of who y'all are as a peer rather than as a student, what do admissions officers hope to acquire from the peer alphabetic character of reference?

The drama! The intrigue! The heartfelt support of a close friend!

What Practice Admissions Committees Look For in Peer Recommendations?

Admissions officers like to emphasize that their procedure is a "holistic" one, meaning they're not only looking at grades and exam scores, but rather trying to become a sense of who the pupil is equally a person. Some of a pupil'due south motivations, interests, and commitments can be gleaned from their involvement in and out of school and accomplishments over the years. A student active in her school's Gay-Directly Brotherhood and Amnesty International likely cares well-nigh activism, social justice, and the promotion of human rights.

However, one student might exist involved in these clubs considering she aspires to be a human rights lawyer, while another educatee might be driven to use social entrepreneurship to promote causes she believes in. Both these goals speak to different interests and futurity fields of study and plans. Recommendation messages can shed more lite on why a educatee does what she does. They tin describe what drives a student and what personal qualities brand her stand out.

Peer recommendations are unique, because they can speak to your character and personality from the perspective of a friend and sibling. They're not expected to be formal or to effort to emulate how a teacher or counselor might write. Instead, they tin reverberate the relationship yous and your recommender have together.

Admissions officers want to know what kind of friend, roommate, and peer you'll be when y'all come to campus. Some skills that might impress them include strong communication, collaboration, passion, focus, resourcefulness, sense of humour, friendliness, pity, and resilience. Your peer is in an particularly adept spot to annotate on your qualities as a friend, whether information technology include your openness, emotional intelligence, maturity, loyalty, creativity, and supportiveness, to name a few.

The strongest recommendations will highlight and swoop securely into a few significant qualities. They'll also utilize specific examples and stories to demonstrate those qualities. Rather than but calling you a supportive friend, for instance, your recommender could write about the care packages you put together for her every mean solar day for a calendar month when her family unit was going through tough times. Every bit the quondam adage of creative writing goes, your recommender should remember to "show, don't tell."

Given all this, who can you ask that will write you a thoughtful, insightful, and colorful letter of recommendation?

Decisions are hard.

Who Should You Inquire for a Peer Recommendation?

The all-time peer recommendations come from people who know you well. Your recommender should be able to write near meaningful, touching, funny, or poignant experiences that illuminate positive aspects of you. Of form, you also want to make sure there's no disharmonize of involvement that could potentially compromise your recommendation.

If your friend is also applying to Dartmouth, has been planning her whole life to go in that location, and is worried almost how selective information technology is, yous might want to ask yourself if there'south any hazard she doesn't have your best interests at eye. Hopefully no one would purposely sabotage your awarding for her own gain, just but something to consider!

A third important consideration is how strong of a writer your friend is, and how much time and attempt she tin can requite to your letter. While she may have the best intentions of helping you lot, if she has subpar writing skills or is juggling her own insanely decorated schedule, then your letter might not end up as the powerful statement of back up y'all need for selective schools like Dartmouth and Davidson.

Finally, I would say that your friend's openness to suggestions and advice could be another helpful factor. Assuming your friend isn't a Dartmouth or Davidson admissions expert, y'all could help her out a lot by telling her nearly the school'due south culture and about what goes into a strong letter of recommendation.

You can share information and advice with her, and she can learn about peer recommendation letters in her attempt to write a strong one. A friend who'due south open up to learning about the central content, structure, and techniques that become into making a rec letter of the alphabet stand out will likely provide a more valuable reference than one who only wants to fly information technology!

In addition to gathering information virtually yourself, your college of choice, and peer recommendation letters, what else tin can yous prepare to inquire your friend for this favor?

This is serious grooming (or a bad instance of freshman backpack).

How Should Yous Inquire for a Peer Recommendation?

Assuming you're taking my get-go piece of communication and asking someone with whom you're close and who knows you well, then hopefully it's piece of cake to request this favor. In the asking, I would recommend describing exactly what it entails and all the key information.

For instance, yous should talk to your friend about the schoolhouse you're applying to, whether it be Davidson or Dartmouth, then she knows nigh its profile and expectations. You should share your awarding with her, so that her recommendation tin can complement it or add a new dimension. If you've spoken in length about your commitment to volunteer work in your customs, for instance, so your friend could zoom in on your caring, compassionate, open up nature and skill at connecting with people from all walks of life.

Remind your friend that the recommendation is meant to reveal your personal qualities and bespeak what kind of peer you'll be on campus. Your friend should indicate how they know you lot, in what contexts, and what makes them qualified to recommend you.

For instance, this example shows that the recommender and recommendee accept been friends for a long time, besides as gives an example to demonstrate Susie'southward adventurous spirit:

Susie and I have been attending Happy Pine Tree Summer Campsite since we were ten, first as campers and now every bit counselors. I knew from the get-go summer, when Susie eagerly volunteered to be the offset to zipline over the valley, that she had a fearless, adventurous, and bold spirit. It's that spirit that drew me to her on that offset twenty-four hours of camp and that continues to inspire me and everyone around Susie to live life to the fullest.

This letter could focus on Susie's fearless nature and her leadership and motivational skills. It could likewise discuss her goals for the future and how these qualities will ensure that she achieves them.

In addition to describing your relationship, highlighting a few specific strengths, and telling specific stories, your recommender should likewise know the value of using powerful language. Words like compassionate, vivid, and energetic are usually more than impactful than nice, smart, and fun.

To brand sure your friend knows the importance and purpose of rec letters, you could discuss these tips with her, as well as give them guides like this one. Teaching her virtually rec messages volition both make your final letter stronger and help her arroyo information technology from a knowledgable and purposeful standpoint.

Reference messages are typically confidential, so information technology'due south up to your peer whether she wants to share it and get your feedback. Even if she chooses to keep it individual, y'all tin help shape what goes into it by sharing all this input.

Finally, I would encourage your friend to be creative and write in the style that'south most authentic for her. Peer evaluations don't have to exist formal—they can be funny or heartfelt, conversational or serious. The most of import thing is that they conspicuously and assuredly nowadays your outstanding qualities and show that you have a friend eager to get to bat for you. Your friend can choose how she tin best communicate exactly what makes yous so awesome.

Since the rec letter takes time and idea, I would recommend asking your friend at to the lowest degree a month before your borderline. You can remind her once again almost a week before your deadline. Finally, make certain to thank her afterward with hugs, cupcakes, or whatever token of appreciation she'd like best.

To sum up, let's go over the key steps that got yous to this betoken of gratitude cupcakes.

Primal Takeaways for Peer Letters of Rec

• Inquire someone who knows you well, has stiff writing skills, and 100% supports you and your college plans.
• Requite your recommender enough of time before your deadline, and educate him or her on the college, your goals, and what makes a great rec letter, like meaningful stories and examples. You may as well share the rest of your awarding so your peer tin complement it in the letter.
• Check in with him/her to see about whatsoever questions or if (due south)he wants to brainstorm ideas.
• Finally, make certain your peer knows exactly how and when to submit your recommendation.

A mediocre peer recommendation probably won't sink your application, but a stellar one could go a long way towards making you come alive for admissions committees equally a pupil they want on their campus come up autumn. Especially at a highly selective Ivy League schoolhouse like Dartmouth, every aspect of your application counts. So if you lot do ultimately get the thick acceptance alphabetic character welcoming you lot to the class, make sure to celebrate with your recommender and let him/her know s(he)'due south your BFF for life.

What's Next?

Maybe you're non the applicant, but the writer of a peer letter of recommendation (or both! Stranger things have happened...). Read all about how to write an outstanding peer recommendation here.

Are you interested in this topic because you're hoping to don Dartmouth greenish in a few years? This article goes in depth near how to get a groovy peer recommendation specifically for Dartmouth Higher.

If the Ivy League is in your sights, y'all might also exist seeing blood-red (bear with me). Learn what makes an impressive recommendation letter for Harvard here.

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your Deed score by four points? We've written a guide for each exam about the top five strategies you must be using to take a shot at improving your score. Download information technology for gratuitous now:

Have friends who also need help with test prep? Share this article!

Virtually the Author

Rebecca graduated with her Master's in Boyish Counseling from the Harvard Graduate School of Educational activity. She has years of educational activity and higher counseling experience and is passionate nearly helping students achieve their goals and improve their well-being. She graduated magna cum laude from Tufts Academy and scored in the 99th percentile on the Sabbatum.

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Source: https://blog.prepscholar.com/complete-guide-to-peer-recommendations

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