Wake Forest Teacher Recommendations: Fill & Download for Free

Standardized tests (SAT, ACT, SAT Subject Tests) are just one part of the admissions process. Most colleges and universities in the United States practice something called “holistic admissions review” which means that they are trying to understand a candidate very broadly (as a student, community member, extracurricular contributor, etc.). Because of this, there are a variety of factors that go into admissions decisions. Grades and test scores are certainly important, but essays, activities, work experience, volunteering, artistic or athletic ability, teacher recommendations, and interviews are all data points that colleges admissions officers look at.In fact, some colleges and universities do not require test scores at all. There are hundreds of test-optional colleges (you can learn more about them here) including some of the top US institutions like University of Chicago, Wake Forest University, Wesleyan Univerity, Bowdoin College, Bates College, George Washington University, and Smith College.

It depends on the specific university’s exact admission’s policies. The only test-optional university my child applied to was Wake Forest. They use GPA, some kind of tracking method where they rank the “rigor” of your high school, rigor of your courses, extracurriculars/awards… That specific university also highly values a technically “optional” but “recommended” interview with an admission’s counselor (but if you complete it, we’ve been told it counts as the 3rd most important factor in admissions after an academic review & most merit scholarships go to students who interview,) the MANY essays on the application, counselor/teacher recommendations, and demonstrated interest. To some degree, like most universities “diversity factors” may impact decisions as well.Edit: To reply to other comments, some universities leave it as we use “holistic admissions” and they are extremely vague about their review process. Other universities are much more transparent about their process and use more of a formula approach which DOES weight some criteria more than others. The information listed above about the interview came from an admission’s presentation given at a WF summer program for high school students in 2019. UGA is so specific about explaining their admission’s process, they describe precisely how they recalculate GPA. They then go so far as to explain that they use a formula where recalculated GPA counts as 3/4 and SAT/ACT scores count as 1/4 of of a statistic they calculate. That statistic is combined with a class “rigor” measurement to form the #1 weighted criteria for admissions into UGA- this is all explained precisely on their website and admission’s blog. Different universities vary pretty significantly on how they review applications for admissions and also on how much information they release to families about how their specific review process is conducted.

My favorite and most impressive professor was Dr. Catherine Harris, sociologist. Brilliant, extensively knowledgeable, cheerful, lively, a great explainer, wise, and genuinely caring, she was also very supportive of undergrads. She always made time outside class if I needed it and even helped me research and co-author a paper for presentation at a Southern Sociological Society meeting and went to Tennessee with me to present it. Her classes were fascinating and fun, and I learned so much! She also had a strong sense of fairness, kindness, patience, and enthusiasm. I also found her fair to everyone in classes, unlike some professors. Dr. Harris was kind and respectful to people of all politics, genders, races, ethnicities, and sexual preferences. She manages class discussions well, brings a ton of expertise to the table, and makes it all really enjoyable. I cannot recommend her highly enough and am delighted she is still teaching. Really excellent!You are smart to inquire about who teaches well, by the way. There are many excellent professors at Wake Forest, however! Or there were at that time. Like Dr. Frank Wood, M.D., a fantastic teacher of neurology, if he is still there.