For seniors asking for recommendation letters
Brag Sheet Template for Recommendations
A teacher brag sheet, a counselor brag sheet and three emails for your recommenders, built on Common App's own questions and filled from your activities.
Maya Chen
Teacher brag sheet for Ms. Alvarez, AP Physics · example
- Your class
- AP Physics, [the grade you took it in]
- Outside this class
- Robotics build lead, grades 9 to 12 · weekend phone orders in Cantonese and English at Golden Wok · started a library coding club, 14 kids
- What I hope to study
- Mechanical engineering
- A project I'm proud of
- [A project from AP Physics: what you made, what was hard and how it turned out]
- A moment in class
- [One moment Ms. Alvarez saw that shows initiative or how you handle setbacks]
What you'll get
Teacher and counselor brag sheets, plus the request, reminder and thank-you emails
- A teacher brag sheet for each teacher, built on Common App's own questions
- A counselor brag sheet, also called the senior brag sheet, covering all of high school
- The request email, a reminder two weeks before the deadline and a thank-you
Before and after
Your activities in. Both brag sheets filled.
Maya Chen, senior. Robotics club 9-12, build lead this year, about 10 hrs a week in season, and we made state for the first time. Weekends at my parents' restaurant, Golden Wok, taking phone orders in Cantonese and English. Started a free Scratch coding club at the Elm Street library, 14 kids signed up. Want to study mechanical engineering. Asking Ms. Alvarez (AP Physics) and my counselor, Mr. Reyes.
2. My activities in school Robotics Club · grades 9, 10, 11, 12 · Build lead (grade 12) · Team made state for the first time. 3. My activities outside school Golden Wok, family restaurant · Phone orders in Cantonese and English, weekends · [hours per week]. Scratch coding club, Elm Street Library · Founder · 14 kids signed up · [hours per week]. 4. What shaped me Challenges I've faced, and how I handled them: [Only you can answer this one.]
Facts from your paste fill the tables. Stories, opinions and anything only you know stay in brackets for you to answer.
Why it works
What goes on a brag sheet for a letter of recommendation?
A brag sheet is a short questionnaire you fill out and give to the teachers and counselor writing your college recommendations, so their letters can be specific. Common App publishes its own teacher brag sheet. This template asks its questions: your class and grade, three words for yourself, why you chose this teacher, a unit you enjoyed, a project you're proud of, and one moment that shows a quality colleges look for.
Your counselor writes about all of high school, so the counselor brag sheet, often called the senior brag sheet, asks for more: your activities with grades and roles, what shaped you, your plans and your colleges. Its questions combine Common App's counselor version with Johns Hopkins' brag sheet tips, which ask counselors for anecdotes rather than a list of activities, so answer with moments. Common App advises asking at least three weeks before a deadline, and the template includes that request email, a reminder and a thank-you.
Download all three documents as Word files, or open them in River and paste your activities or résumé. River fills both sheets with your activities, roles and plans, and leaves a bracket for every classroom story only you can tell. The activities list writer turns the same notes into your Common App activities, and college interview prep helps you practice talking about them. Track which teacher writes for which college in the college application organizer.
What lands in your doc
What's inside the brag sheet template
- Teacher brag sheet
One copy per teacher, with Common App's questions: your class, why this teacher, a unit, a project and one moment in class. - Counselor brag sheet
The senior brag sheet: activities in and out of school with grades and roles, what shaped you, your plans and your colleges. - Hopkins' counselor questions
The questions Johns Hopkins suggests counselors ask: the class with the biggest impact on you, where you learn best and challenges you faced. - Request, reminder and thank-you
Three short emails: the request with your brag sheet attached, a reminder two weeks before your deadline, and a thank-you. - A deadlines table
Each college, its plan and its deadline, earliest first, so every teacher knows exactly when the letter is due. - Filled from your activities
Paste your activities or résumé and both sheets fill in, with a bracket for every story only you can tell.
How it works
From your activities to letters that sound like you
Open the template
Click Edit with AI to get your own copy in River, or download the Word files with no account.
Paste your activities
Optional. Paste your activities or résumé, and River fills both sheets with your activities, roles, grades and plans.
Answer the brackets
Write the class stories only you know: a unit you loved, a project you're proud of, one moment your teacher saw.
Ask, remind, thank
Make a copy for each teacher, send the request email with it attached, then the reminder and the thank-you.
Questions applicants ask
Common questions
What is a brag sheet?
A brag sheet is a page of facts and stories about you that you give to the teachers and counselor writing your college recommendations. It reminds them what you have done and gives them specific moments to write about. Common App publishes teacher, counselor and family versions, and this template is built on its questions.
What should I put on a brag sheet?
For a teacher: the class and grade, why you chose them, a unit you enjoyed, a project you're proud of, one moment from class and something they don't know about you. For your counselor: activities with grades and roles, what shaped you, challenges, plans and colleges. Specific moments help more than adjectives.
Do I need a separate brag sheet for each teacher?
Yes. The teacher sheet is about one class, so each teacher needs a copy with their course, a project from their class and a moment they saw. Your activities and plans can stay the same on every copy. River can make a new copy for each teacher and keep the details you share.
What is a senior brag sheet?
It's the counselor version, sometimes called the student questionnaire. Your counselor writes about you in the context of your whole class and school, so it covers all of high school: activities, influences, challenges, plans and colleges. Some schools add a parent version too, and Common App publishes one as a family questionnaire.
When should I give my teachers a brag sheet?
When you ask for the letter, at least three weeks before your first deadline, which is Common App's advice. Ask in person if you can, then send the request email with the brag sheet attached. If the letter isn't in two weeks before the deadline, send the short reminder.
Can River fill in my brag sheet for me?
It fills in the facts. Paste your activities or résumé and River puts your activities, roles, grades and plans into both sheets. The stories that make a letter specific, like a moment from class, stay in brackets, because only you know them. River can then ask you one question at a time to fill them in.
Your next step
More for your application
Give your teachers something specific to write about
Open the brag sheets as they are, or paste your activities and River fills both, leaving your class stories for you.