San Ramon Valley High School

College & Career Center » Letters of Recommendation

Letters of Recommendation

Letters of recommendation are NOT REQUIRED for UC* or CSU schools but some private and out of state public/private schools may ask for them.
 
Letters of recommendation serve to enhance the "personal" side of an application and share with colleges a student's participation within the school community, the classroom and within their living community.  For fall 2016 applicants, UC Berkeley announced a new policy to accept letters of recommendation from students only IF they ask for them (after a student has submitted his/her application).  See the UCB website for more information.  Stay tuned for updated FALL 2017 Information!
 
Letters of recommendation are most likely to be requested by colleges from a counselor and/or one or more academic teachers (preferably from the 12th or 11th grade) but for some colleges, letters from other recommenders might be accepted.  Be sure you know the letter of recommendation policy at each school where you intend to apply.  
 
Due to the volume of letter requests, SRVHS counselors and teachers require a 3 week advance request in order to be able to meet a student's application deadline. Use the link below to access the "packet" that needs to be completed and submitted to your counselor and/or teacher at least 3 weeks in advance of the (earliest) application deadline.  This "packet" may also be found on a senior's Naviance homepage in the "document library". 
 
Link to the SRVHS Guidance page to obtain the Letter of Recommendation packets and important information regarding the Letters of Recommendation process at SRVHS.
 
 
 
NOTE:  SRVHS uses the Naviance Family Connection software to send letters of recommendation to the colleges, and only counselors and teachers may upload letters to this program.  If you will be requesting letters from other sources, check with each college to learn how to most appropriately send those types of letters to their admissions departments.