<p>Is letting them know now too early/too late via e-mail?</p>
<p>Teachers would much prefer you tell them sooner, rather than wait until 2 weeks before the deadline like everyone else does. Sending them an email now is fine.</p>
<p>Agreed. Oh, and I’d recommend thinking of it less as “notifying” and more like “asking.” :P</p>
<p>^ Yeah, seriously.</p>
<p>They’ll respect that you’re organized and conscientious enough to have planned so far in advance. You don’t want a stressed, frustrated teacher spending less than 15 minutes on your rec. :)</p>
<p>Yes, now is the time. I have already approached my recommendation teachers and know others who have done the same. I recommend you do it either now by e-mail or in the first few weeks of school. If you choose popular teachers, they will be swamped writing recs later in the fall and will appreciate your foresight. :)</p>
<p>I have a question: is there any guidelines regarding letter of recommendations?</p>
<p>I’m not exactly sure what you mean, selter. Are you talking about guidelines for choosing teachers, or for how your teachers should write your recs, or what? </p>
<p>For choosing teachers: Try to choose two teachers who know you well from junior/senior year (probably junior year, as they’ll know you better) and like you a lot. If you can, ask older friends which teachers write good letters of rec; you don’t want a really generic form letter, which is what some teachers produce.</p>
<p>For asking for recs: Ask your teachers early in senior year or before, the earlier the better. Be sure to give them a way out if they don’t really want to write a rec for you (always pose your request for a rec as a question, not a demand, because you want to be sure they will write something positive). Many teachers will appreciate if you give them some guidance on what you want in general from a letter of rec. You know, you can tell your teachers you would prefer it if they wrote an anecdote about you as opposed to a general letter, and that you want them to focus mainly on your academic/classroom performance. With any luck (and some insistence) they’ll get your recs out before time. Your teachers might show you your recs, but that is up to them.</p>
<p>Anyway, hope this all helps! :)</p>
<p>Are we supposed to get a teacher recommendation or just ask them to fill out the form on the Common App?</p>
<p>I gave both of my teachers envelopes and then I realized it was infinitely easier for them to just do it online.</p>
<p>Also, if you decide at the last minute to apply to another school, you can just do it through the common app so their recommendation gets sent to the new school, rather than having to ask them to mail a hard copy over Winter Break.</p>
<p>I do have one question, though: My GC has opted out of the online Common App, so her rec will be sent on paper (the guidance dept. at my school is annoyingly behind). Should my teachers send their recs on paper too, or should they just do it online? My app will definitely be sent online, even though my GC was trying to convince that since she did it on paper, I would have to also.</p>
<p>Wigwam,</p>
<p>Even if your GC opts to use paper, your teachers can still utilize the online system to submit their recommendations via the Common App Online system. The more stuff submitted online the better - much easier for you and the colleges to track.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks. 
Yeah, I don’t really like how my GC opted out because submitting online is “too hard” for her. What can you say? We have an extremely overworked, out-of-the-loop guidance department like every other public school.</p>