<p>Several teachers that my D has had this yr (freshman) and will have next yr are leaving the school (for a variety of reasons). One is the band director (who will be retiring after next yr)...who places emphasis on leadership skills and has students try out/apply for leadership roles and who will have known her for 2 yrs). Should she try to get letters of recommendation from any of these teachers before they leave, or just wait and get letters from Junior/senior class teachers?</p>
<p>Well getting the letters of recommendation now may not be beneficial, as with the CommonApp, teachers have to upload the recommendation document through their own account, so your D having their recommendation does no good. Physical/paper recommendations are supposed to be sent in sealed envelopes so again, your D having it won’t help.</p>
<p>If anything, she should get their contact info (e.g. personal e-mail address) so she can ask them to write recommendations when the time comes. </p>
<p>On the other hand, you may be getting way ahead of yourself here, as she’s only going to be a sophomore. Further, don’t you think that teachers she encounters later on will have possibly 1) known her longer, but more importantly 2) observed qualities that developed later in her HS career? I know that in my case, many of my qualities did not develop (or at least become known) until my junior/senior year so it would have hindered me if I used rec’s from earlier in HS as those teachers would not have observed those good characteristics in me. Just a thought!</p>
<p>I’m sure she’ll have plenty of other dedicated teachers who will be worthy of writing rec’s when the time comes.</p>
<p>She must wait. Knowing her for two years of which the latter was freshman year is almost meaningless compared to a junior year letter. I’m sure she’ll be able to get a recommendation from the new band teacher.</p>
<p>Any band teacher will have to be a supplemental LOR as the main ones need to be from academic courses.</p>
<p>Soph teachers can be OK, particularly if it was for a higher level course (eg. AP).</p>
<p>I wouldn’t count on sr year teachers unless she has had them previously, as they will only have known her a short time when she has to ask for a LOR, and so may not be very strong.</p>
<p>I agree with the others.</p>
<p>And this is why high-school teachers know that teaching the 11th grade is a mixed bag. On one hand, juniors do tend to be the most serious about their school work, as if they all show up on the first day of school and say, “Omigod, I completely forgot about college!” On the other hand, if you teach juniors, you’re going to write *a lot *of college letters.</p>