I am a junior and I am looking for a second teacher to write one of my college recommendations. One of the options is my freshman year social studies teacher who is the sponsor for my club. I have a very good relationship with this teacher and frequently talk to them for extended periods of time about politics, school life, and my extracurricular activities. The next option is my social studies teacher this year. He is an awesome teacher and is very intelligent and I really enjoy his class. I feel as though I have a good relationship with him, but I am definitely not his favorite and have not spoken to him that much outside of class. The final option would be my social studies teacher next year. This man is a brilliant teacher and has written recommendations for my siblings, getting them into very selective colleges. However, they had him for both junior and senior year and I would have him for just senior year. He is my mentor for a research paper that students work on over their junior and senior years and I have had some good conversations with him, but I am still limited in my interaction with him because he is not my teacher. I would appreciate advice on who you think would be able to write the best recomendation.
For recommendations one should go with the teacher who really knows him best and really likes what he knows enough to bother writing a heartfelt letter. This way, letter would seem genuine and not an standard obligation.
Colleges will want recs from teachers you had towards the end of your high school career, so junior year teachers are your best bet. I would not ask the teacher you had freshman year. If you apply ED or EA, will your senior year teacher know you well enough in about 3 months to write you a rec?
I think that my senior year teacher will because he is teaching my class for the last moth of this year along with being my advisor for the essay. But he will still not know as much about me as my freshman teacher.