Letter of Recommendation

What a US-style LOR looks like

A strong US college recommendation letter is not a form — it's a 1–2 page narrative that tells the admissions committee who the student is intellectually and personally. It includes:

• Specific moments when the teacher saw the student think hard, struggle productively, or change their mind
• Quotes from the student's class contributions, essays, or office hours
• Comparisons to other strong students the teacher has taught
• A sense of the student's character outside pure grades — curiosity, kindness, leadership, resilience

The best letters do NOT just say "Ji-won is a hard worker and received an A+ in my class." They say: "Ji-won is the student who stayed after class for 40 minutes arguing with me about whether Camus's interpretation of Sisyphus is actually optimistic. She was wrong. She was fascinating."

That level of specificity is the point. Generic letters help the applicant less than no letter at all.

Why this is the hardest gap for Korean students

Korean high school teachers, especially at general Korean high schools, are used to writing a completely different kind of teacher evaluation — short, form-based, focused on grades and behavior. They may have never written a US-style narrative LOR in English, and they may not know what US admissions readers expect.

This creates a real risk: a technically polite but content-empty letter that says nothing specific about the student. US admissions readers see hundreds of these from international applicants and treat them as "no information."

How Korean students should handle it

1. Pick the right teachers early — by junior spring. Choose teachers who have seen you engage intellectually, not just get high grades. An A in a hard class with a teacher who knows you is worth more than an A+ with a teacher who doesn't.
2. Share context with the teacher — give them a 1-page "brag sheet" or "resume" that includes your college list, intended major, key activities, and 2–3 specific classroom moments you hope they'll remember. This is standard practice in US schools and not considered rude.
3. Discuss tone — some Korean teachers will want to write the letter in Korean and have it translated. This is better than forcing them to write in English they don't feel fluent in, but you need a professional translator who understands US admissions language, not a literal translator.
4. For international students at Korean general high schools (not international schools): the US college often recognizes that your teachers haven't written these before and will read the letter with more generous context. Don't panic — but do everything you can to make the letter as specific and narrative as possible.

The counselor letter

Separate from teacher letters, selective US colleges require a counselor recommendation. The counselor's letter covers: your school context (what kind of school is it, how rigorous, what percentage of students apply to college), your performance relative to your school's class, disciplinary history, and personal character. At international schools this is straightforward; at Korean general high schools, the counselor role may not exist — in that case, the homeroom teacher or designated 진학 지도 담당 usually writes it.