in the past, mainly for work related but also in college as well, i have written my share of recommendations. they usually involve the key ingredient in all recommendations: embellishment. i think those who read recommendations are well aware of this and read accordingly. lord knows i have written my own share of recommendations, for myself, written by myself, so i know that there is a lot of lying going on. i do think writing your own recommendation is something everyone should try at least once. it will broaden your perspective on who you are, and depending on your self-deception abilities, it might raise you to another level of success (or incompetence as the case may be).

many of my students are applying to places like harvard, princeton, yale, mit, cal tec and other universities that would never have even opened an application from the likes of me. they also need recommenders, clearly, and as i am their sole native english speaking teacher, i get put up on the list for almost all of them. this raises questions (or challenges, depending on how you envision the world). there are a few students who are, let´s say, testing my limits. nothing nice to say? say nothing at all. how do you do that in a recommendation? i have toyed with the idea of simply giving back the rec forms and saying, no. why was i chosen anyway? if you were a student who put little to no effort into a class, would you ask that teacher to write for you? i would not. of course, i am not in high school so i cannot really answer that question fairly.

another problem is that we in the usa are indoctrinated with the importance of these letters and how they can make or break some borderline apps. here? not so much i get the feeling.

so, what do you do?

this is not a rhetorical question. i would like advice. any suggestions?