<p>I have a letter of recommendation from a professor at UofM. Does anyone know if this will help my chances?</p>
<p>sure it should compared to a normal teacher</p>
<p>Unless you actually took a class at U-M from this professor, I think a recommendation from a high school teacher would be preferable. Even if you took a class, I doubt it would make much of difference. The most important thing is that the teacher knows you and has something favorable to say.</p>
<p>What is your relationship with this professor-family friend? did you do research for him/her? How well do you know him/her? No personal experience but what I have read is that if you have a notable person write a recommendation the person better really know you and know something relevant about you.</p>
<p>Edit-reading aahs12’s answer I may have misunderstood-did you actually somehow have this prof for a class? If you did well and it is a good recommendation it would surely be a good thing.</p>
<p>My GSI for Spanish 277 wrote me one, but I spent a lot of time at office hours and had 100% in the class.</p>
<p>it is a family friend. I have not had them for a class</p>
<p>This is my situation also, but I included a ‘transcript’ and a description of who I am and why I would be a good ‘fit’ at UMich also. :)I suggest you help the professor as much as possible.</p>
<p>When I applied as a freshman to Michigan I had a rec from a professor as well, but since he was just a family friend and I hadn’t had a class with him, it didn’t help at all (I was deferred, wait listed, rejected, and then admitted later as a transfer student, even with professor recs, parent/grandparent alumni, both my parents being UM Ann Arbor professors, and decent high school scores!). The whole point of a letter of recommendation is for the writer to reflect on his or her experience with you in an academic setting, not a personal setting. Essentially, it’d probably be preferable to get a rec from a teacher who actually knows you and has experience with your schoolwork! You probably won’t see any benefits from having a professor rec but it definitely can’t hurt your app 
Good luck, decisions should be coming out sooner rather than later!</p>