<p>Title says it all.</p>
<p>Either. It matters more what they say</p>
<p>One of my teacher only wrote: One of the finest students in her grade - possibly the best I’ve ever taught for years. (I think she almost wrote ‘nuff said’ in the end).</p>
<p>That’s it.</p>
<p>Well the short one sounds horrible. They want to learn about who you are as a person.</p>
<p>If it begins: “A is the smartest student I have ever had” it can be short. If it begins: “A is one of the hardest working students I have but” it needs to be long in explanation but doing so likely won’t make a difference.</p>
<p>Reality is that teachers get multiple requests for letters, it is something they have to do in their spare time, and writing long letters that take a long time to write is impracticable. Typical letters of recommendation are on one page or a little onto the second and realistic you should not expect the teacher to do more.</p>
<p>Like most things in life: It’s not the quantity but the quality.</p>
<p>[Writing</a> Recommendations | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/writingrecs]Writing”>How to write good letters of recommendation | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>Although published by MIT, you get the drift.</p>