<p>Alright, so I've gotten to filling out the forms for CMU, and I've got somewhat of a dilemma.</p>
<p>The teacher who made the greatest impact on me and who would likely write the best letter of recommendation for me would be my 7th-8th grade science teacher, who coached me through the state math&science competition, where I won third in state overall, and she was definitely the teacher that got me to decide pursuing science as a future major.</p>
<p>But, would it be better to pick a teacher from high school? I didn't know or like many of my high school teachers nearly as much as my middle school teachers, and though I could probably get a decent letter from one of them, though not nearly as personal or impressive as one I could get out of my middle school science teacher.</p>
<p>For instance, I could use my preCal teacher from last year, who saw me fail his class miserably, but in three weeks pull my grade up from a very low C to an A. (I'm pretty frightened of using him though, because that was the worst I have ever done in school).</p>
<p>I also have numerous English and history teachers that liked me very much, but since I am trying to get into SCS, I don't think any of them would be the best choice.</p>
<p>Colleges generally require your recommendations to be from high school teachers; some will even restrict you to teachers from junior and senior year or sophomore and junior year. If you’re still in touch with your middle school science teacher, that could make sense as a supplemental recommendation, depending on the circumstances, but your primary recs will almost certainly need to be from high school teachers.</p>
<p>Use who you think you should! I went to a Carnegie on the road event thingy and the speaker said the best recommendation he ever got was from a 6 year old girl who drew a picture and wrote a paragraph on construction paper and decorated it. Alot of students will pick teachers who’s class they’ve done well in and it’ll all be very ordinary and the same. Do something different.</p>
<p>One of my S’s recommendations was from his favorite middle school math teacher and he was accepted at SCS. Admittedly he kept in contact with her over the years and occasionally helped her with special projects.</p>
<p>I just said it in another thread, but I think it bears repeating. A recommendation is intended to say what other people think of you. You can hardly go wrong getting one from someone who knows you well and who can and will explain why they think highly of you (your mother excluded, of course 
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