<p>I have a teacher whom I was close with and knew me as the intelligent-beyond-my-years type. She retired last year and is now traveling or down south or something. I can't get ahold of her and I don't know if she sent my recommendation in or if it is still in her mailbox. Do colleges place a lot of importance on recommendations from teachers who can write very well? I have another teacher I could go to who could write a rec, but she says it wouldn't be too great and that the other teacher would do better. My counselor wrote a rec (btw, I am applying to Northwestern), I have a teacher-friend who knows me super well and is also writing a rec, but he was never a core subject teacher. Should I just go with someone who would just get it done, or should I try to figure out how to get the "quality" rec out of the missing teacher? </p>
<p>Also, when do colleges begin making their decisions for regular admission? Do they wait until after the Jan. 1 deadline to start accepting people, or do they accept students as soon as the file is complete, even though it is not Jan. 1 yet.</p>