this post is really late, but i thought a post about rec letters could be really helpful for future classes !!!

 why are rec letters important?

• they allow colleges to receive a more in-depth academic profile of you than a transcript or GPA
  
• teachers can directly communicate with a college to advocate for you
• these letters are written from a more objective standpoint than your own portrayal of yourself in your application

 how do i decide who should write my rec letters?

• first, look at your college’s specific requirements for a recommendation letter
  
• this will be found on the college’s undergraduate applications website
• ex: some colleges want a one counselor rec and one teacher rec, some want three recs with two teachers and an out-of-school source, etc. you just have to make sure to look
• most colleges want two letters of recommendation by two different teachers
• should be teachers from your junior/senior years, or one who has taught you for multiple years
• i personally would recommend one math/science teacher and one humanities teacher 
  
• pick a teacher…
• whose class you got a good grade in
• whose class you genuinely enjoyed
• who knows you on a personal level
• who will be able to write a personal, customized letter, not just a generic one. colleges will be able to tell if they actually know you and appreciate you as a student based on their language
• who you worked with outside the classroom or in an extracurricular setting (bonus, not required)

 when should i ask a teacher for a rec letter?

• as soon as possible
  
• seriously, these teachers will be swamped with requests for rec letters. the sooner you ask them the sooner yours will be done and the better it will be
• ask your teachers during…
• the end of junior year
• the summer in between junior and senior year
• very early in the fall of senior year

 how do i ask a teacher for a rec letter?

• there are two ways to ask:
• e-mail
• pros: you have a digital record of asking them and it’s easier to trade information
• cons: the request could easily get lost
  
• in-person
• pros: the request is more personal and the teacher is more willing to help when seeing an actual person
• cons: you can’t keep reminding them or pestering them, otherwise your teacher will be annoyed
• i personally would ask in-person, and then use emails to exchange information or send reminders
• once your teacher has accepted your request, send them the following soon after:
• a list of colleges they need to send these letters to
• any of the colleges’ guidelines or requirements for rec letters
• due dates for the rec letters
• a résumé (this is just nice for the teacher to have)
• any things you want them to explicitly mention in your letter (ex: if you worked really hard on a twenty-page research paper for that class)
• anything else they ask for

❔❕okay, now what?

• congrats! you just secured yourself some kickass rec letters
  
• continue to gently remind your teacher until the letters are sent, and send more information if they need it
• don’t pester or overdo it
• your teachers will send their letters to your colleges
• if any problems arise, the teacher will fix it (this year my biology teacher accidentally sent the wrong document so she called all the schools to let them know and she was able to reupload my letter)
• BREATHE. SMILE. RELAX.

 i hope this post is helpful! if you have more questions about rec letters or the college process in general, message me !!!

 OTHER COLLEGE POSTS:

• college interviews
  
• college research
  

hello everyone! since i’m turning 20 soon, and 2020 is almost ending, i’ve decided to create my own 28 day anti-procrastination challenge. i’ve tried doing challenges on my blog before but really struggled to stay committed. i hope that this time, i can really stick to my plans and goals. i’ve struggled with procrastination my entire life, and i really want to tackle this bad habit and incorporate better habits before i turn 20, and before this year ends. i will be using a mixture of resources i found online for this challenge. the first day of my challenge will be today (nov 24, 2020).

steps for starting the challenge:

1. make a not-to-do list (a list of tasks you will not do, no matter what)
2. make a rewards list
3. sign up for the beat procrastination challenge on: here (this is a 30 day challenge, but i’ll be using this because after 28 days, i should still be using these habits, so there should be no reason why i can’t answer the questions for an extra 2 days)

rules (based off of my challenge tribe, with additional rules i added):

1. review your not-to-do list as soon as you wake up
2. work on your most important task of the day for a minimum of 25 minutes as soon as you start your day (i will be keeping my phone on airplane mode and NOT check my email until after i’ve worked for 25 minutes)
3. give yourself a time limit for each thing you have to do
4. take breaks according to a set time (i’ll be taking a 10 minute break every 50 minutes of work)
5. if you have a distracting thought or random task that you realized you have to do during a work session, write it down and work on it during your break.
6. reward yourself if you get a task done without procrastinating and within the time limit
7. when you have spare time, do what you have to do. do not put it off until the next day.
8. follow the schedule below
9. check in with the challenge tribe daily

schedule:
* modules workbooks are from here 
day 1 -
day 2 - module 1
day 3 -
day 4 - module 2
day 5 -
day 6 - module 3
day 7 - make a check-in post on tumblr (what worked, what didn’t work, how you’ll improve if needed)
day 8 - module 4
day 9 -
day 10 - module 5
day 11 -
day 12 - module 6
day 13 -
day 14 - module 7
day 15 - make a second check-in post
day 16-27 -
day 28 - final check-in post

4.30.17 // 7:20pm // april’s #zenartchallenge

i forgot how much fun these are and i really like the minimal color scheme i chose for the month. some of these didn’t turn out too well, but overall, i still love looking at this spread! -m

I can’t resist to puppies full of curiosity

10.7.18

an old spread - taken from my studygram (◕‿◕) 

4/4/18

an essay plan from a while ago & my annotated copy of waiting for godot for english

some pictures from my studygram! 

20.12.17

some v disorganised notes i scribbled down in class! [studygram]

my science book at the moment