You have waaaayyy more control over your letters of rec (LoR) than you think.
Most families are shocked when we tell them this: on admissions rubrics like Harvard’s and Stanford’s, rec letters are weighted even more heavily than your essays.
Plus, when we interviewed students from top schools like Yale, they noted that AOs explicitly look for key acronyms like OTM (one-of-the-most) throughout the LoRs. Think “one of the most diligent/caring/thought-provoking, etc.).
The good news? You can engineer a stellar “OTM___” letter starting today—no matter what grade you’re in.
Here’s how, broken down by year.
If you’re a rising senior:
Send your teacher a detailed brag sheet, not a form. [Here’s an example that helped get a student into Yale, Stanford, and Brown.]
We grade brag sheets the same way we grade essays — line by line, on our 9-point rubric. We’re not looking for a list of achievements. We’re looking for anecdotes about character, integrity, and leadership.
Pick the teacher who knows you best, not the one who gave you the highest grade. A teacher who’s had you for one semester can only tell an admissions officer that you work hard. A teacher who’s known you for a few years — as a teacher, a coach, a mentor — can tell them who you actually are: how you handle setbacks, what you’re curious about, whether you follow through when no one’s checking.
Make sure your letters don’t overlap — one should speak to your leadership, another to your intellectual curiosity.
If you’re a junior:
You’re not writing a brag sheet yet, but you’re building the material for one right now.
A weak letter says “hardworking, always prepared.” A great one says “”One of the most curious and diligent students I’ve taught in the past ten years.” Or “if I were building a research team tomorrow, they’d be the first person I’d recruit — without hesitation.”
Be Curious. Don’t walk in and say “I’m confused, please help me.” Ask real questions instead: What got them into this subject? What do most students misunderstand about it? If they were designing a new project today, what would it be, and why?
Follow-up. If they recommend a book or an idea, actually read it — then come back the next week with a specific question or disagreement. This is a classic move, and it still works!
Make them root for you. Tell them your hopes, your dreams, your ambitions—a real conversation about what you’re building toward. A teacher can’t write a top 1% letter about someone they don’t actually know.
Fun fact: this is literally how Kevin landed his Yale rec letter, and how Vennela got hers for her master’s at Columbia!
If you’re a sophomore or younger:
You have time — but know that rec letters and essays make up roughly 30-40% of your entire application.
The best use of your time right now: read a few genuinely excellent brag sheets and rec letters, so you know what “great” actually looks like before you’re the one writing it. Start here: Michael’s rec letter and a full brag sheet from a UPenn admit (he was the only kid out of 37 folks who applied early decision from his school who got in early).
This is the kind of work we do with every student we take on. Submit your brag sheet to our async portal today for in-depth, line-by-line feedback: elevated.school/editmyessay.
— Kevin and Vennela, The ElevatEd School
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