<p>^. If a rec just talks about how you're accomplished, intellectually curious, and pretty vague, will that kill your entire application (I'm applying to Yale, btw)?</p>
<p>bump this. I'm worried about recs too, I feel so powerless.</p>
<p>No.
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<p>I really don't think that recommendations are ever that vague. I know that the forms that accompany some recommendation letters ask for specific prompts, and even have a scale in which to rate student's performance in class and a "top ?% in career" scale. A rec that is 100% positive will likely never negatively affect your application. </p>
<p>However, I would say that if you don't get to know your teachers well, that does limit the detail in which they can describe you.</p>