Ask teachers for recommendation letters months ahead, not days before. Give them your resume and specific memories so they write something personal instead of generic. A rushed request gets a forgettable letter.
Sabotage number 5: asking for your recommendation letter 3 days before the deadline. Picture this from the teacher's point of view. It's a random Tuesday in November. They have 4 other students who also waited until the last minute, a stack of essays to grade, a family at home, and now you, a kid they maybe haven't spoken to since October, sliding into their inbox asking for a detailed, personalized letter by Friday. You will get a letter. It will not be a good one. It will be generic, rushed, and forgettable because you handed a rushed writer a rushed deadline and expected a masterpiece back. Ask early, ideally months in advance, and give your recommender something to work with: a resume, a few specific memories you'd love them to include, anything that turns write something nice into here's a real story to tell. The letter you get is a direct reflection of the runway you gave the recommender.
