<p>And who should I ask from?</p>
<p>Usually you start asking for college recs at the very beginning of your senior year. The common app doesn’t open for applications until Aug 1, so that’s the earliest you should be asking. </p>
<p>Some students start “feeling out” their teachers junior year to ask whether they’ll be willing to give a positive rec in fall, but that’s not necessary. You do need to be sure with your 11th grade teachers that you know how to get in touch with if there is a chance they won’t return to your school for the following year.</p>
<p>Many schools don’t require any recs at all, some require one and others require two. </p>
<p>For those that require two, it’s often advised (and sometimes required) that you get one from a math/science/comp sci teacher and one from a soc. studies/english/for. lang. teacher. In all cases, you will want teachers from whom you took a class that appears on your transcript in grade 11 or 12. In the case of a grade 12 teacher, it should be someone who also taught or knew you before that class.</p>
<p>Most teachers will tell you they won’t look at doing recommendations until after senior year starts, but many kids, particularly if they’ve liked a class or a particular teacher, will approach that teacher in June, and ask them how they would feel about writing a recommendation in the fall, as you really liked X, Y, Z class and felt like it was potentially a strong subject of interest for college, and that you felt like that teacher got to you know you better than some other teachers.</p>
<p>Most will say “talk to me in the fall again” and you can say thank you, I appreciate it, have a great summer!</p>
<p>In the meantime it lets the teacher get mind marbles rolling a little ahead of time.</p>
<p>My D talked to several teachers near the end of junior year. Once the senior school year starts, you would be crazy filling up application and writing essays. You may want to get this settle earlier. Also, you should check the requirement of each school who should be your recommenders. Some require 2 core subject teachers from junior or senior year. My D contacted 4 teachers for letters and assign them accordingly. In addition, some teacher may set a limit on the number of letters for each student. Common App is co7nted as only one though. Remember, you may need them for scholarships too.</p>