The time is drawing closer to submit your college letters of recommendation—and don’t you know it! You already know that you’ll need 2-3 recommenders, and preferably ones who know you fairly well and can write you a strong letter of recommendation. You’ve reached out to your teachers and cultivated academic relationships that mean they know you well and understand how to write a letter that shows you to your best advantage. Now, it’s time to choose who you want to write your letters, and ask them. For many students, this can be the most anxiety-inducing part of the recommendation process, but it doesn’t have to be stressful! Here are some tips to streamline the process of choosing your recommenders to make it go as smoothly as possible:

Ask With Time to Spare

In all likelihood, you won’t be the only person asking your teachers for letters of recommendation. Moreover, they have plenty to do outside college recommendations—after all, being a teacher is hard work! This is why it’s important to ask for your letter of recommendation as soon as possible—preferably at the start of the school year. It’s probably best to send an email asking for a recommendation, then speak to your potential recommender the next day—this way, you can be sure they got the request, but they also have a written copy to look back on. This way, you’ll give them plenty of time to write a good letter, and to review it before submitting it to your college to make sure it’s as good and reflective of you as possible and contains no errors.

Explain Why You’re Asking

Writing letters of recommendation is a favor, and it’s important your recommenders realize you’re asking them for a good reason. When you ask, explain that, rather than just wanting any old letter of recommendation, you’ve chosen them because you think they’re uniquely well suited to write it. Whether that’s because you’ve taken multiple classes with them across the years, or because they were your coach or supervisor for an extracurricular activity, you should make it clear that this is personal and a favor you’d be grateful for. Once they know you have good and specific reasons for asking, odds are they’ll be happy to be your recommender!

Make the Admin Easy for Your Teachers

As we’ve said before, being a teacher is a busy job, and writing a letter of recommendation is an extra. It’s best to make the administrative aspects of being your recommender as easy as possible for anyone you ask. This means having prepared in advance a written document with as much relevant information as possible—this can include which colleges you need the recommendation for, the due dates for the letters, and how to submit them, whether online or through a paper letter in the mail. Keeping things nice and easy will give your recommenders the time and space to focus on writing you the best recommendation they can.

Have a Backup—Just in Case

As the old scouting motto goes, “Be prepared.” While your recommenders will in all likelihood be more than happy to write you a letter, there are external circumstances you can’t always control. If one of your recommenders needs to go on family or medical leave, or if they aren’t writing letters of recommendation for anyone for whatever reason, you don’t want to be left scrambling. Be sure to have at least one “backup” recommender in mind, in addition to your 2-3 “top choice” recommenders. If you do need to reach out to them, it’ll be good to have already planned that, so you can follow best practices when you ask.

College recommendations are important, but they don’t need to be scary. If you follow the techniques and practices laid out here, and the advice recommended by experts like our team at A-List, getting your recommendations together and applying to college can be smooth sailing!