How important are letters of recommendation?

I’m a junior and need to find two teachers to write me letters of recommendation for college. The problem is that I don’t have any particularly good relationships with any of my teachers to be honest. How important are letters of recommendation in the admissions process, if the letters are only subpar? I am looking at schools like NYU, Carnegie mellon, USC etc.

@SternBusiness If you recommendation letters are generic, I don’t think it would necessarily hurt you more than not help you. A generic letter of rec won’t be seen negatively but certainly not positively either. As long as the other parts of the application are good, then you should be fine.

Maybe you could try and build relationships with a teacher? Participate more in class, go to them if you have any questions, and ask letter of recs early.

Try the teachers whose classes you have the best grade in!! Also, when/if you decide to ask, you should have a meeting with them where you can discuss things for your teacher to put in the letter (what you’re interested in majoring in/what kind of schools you’re thinking about, etc)