Questions about Letter of Recommendation

Applying to College
1

I have a few general logistical questions about rec letters:
-Are the letters generally handwritten or typed and emailed to schools?
-Are you physically given the envelope of the letter for you to mail to the school?
-Or does the teacher mail the letter to your choice of school?
-Can you ask more than 2 teachers if a college requires 2 letters?
-If you have 3 letters can you choose which ones that get sent and which ones don’t?
And some specifics about who I should ask for a LOR

  1. Orchestra teacher-I’ve had her for 8 years and we know each other very well. I’ve shown a lot of compassion for music and other people in her class: I worked with 2 kids with mental disabilities in orchestra and I’ve organized thank you cards and small gifts for her when her mother passed away. She really admires me and her daughter went to the school I’m reaching for (Cornell)
  2. Latin teacher-I’ve had her for 4 years and I’d say she’s more of a friend than a teacher. I can talk and joke with her casually and she knows how I can be very helpful, but I have been slacking a bit because it’s an easy A
  3. Math teacher-He was a real hardass (meanie-head if this is censored) for the first year I had him and we kinda hated each other, but I had him for another semester and we began to mutually respect each other. He’s seen me mature into a leader in the class room and knows how much I can improve if I keep at it.
  4. Physics teacher-I’ve had her for 1 year and I have her again this year. She is extreeeemely nice but I kinda took advantage of that and fooled around a bit last year. I have never seen her angry and doubt she could ever write anything bad on a LOR. She knows I’m very helpful and social but kinda doubts my work ethic.

edit: These LORs are for pretty much only Cornell as it’s my only reach. I’m hoping to attend their college of agriculture and life sciences and I plan to major in biometry and statistics. I have compassion for other people (biometry and statistics can be applied to world hunger problems) and I want to show that in my essays and LORs.

2

Most colleges use the Common application or Coalition Application. You wiil get your teachers to upload their LORs (via pdf) into your profile. Then you assign them to the colleges you’re applying. They shouldn’t handwrite them if at all possible. If you’re in the USA, they know the drill.

I would use the Math and Latin teachers as your primary writers. The orchestra teacher is OK as a optional supplemental