Recommendation Letters?

The rule of thumb for most colleges is that they want (2) teacher recommendations and (1) HS Counselor recommendation. If you are applying to a STEM school like CalTech or MIT or GTech, then they will state they want 1 of the 2 teachers to be a STEM teacher.

The only variation on this is some elite schools like Dartmouth allow you to submit a peer recommendation which can be a classmate, or someone older than you at Dartmouth who knows you and can advocate for you.

Typically employment recommendations or recommendations from clergy, politicians, business contracts or employers is not part of the college admissions process. They might be useful to mention in case you have a personal interview and want to create a C.V. resume for your interviewer prior to starting your meeting so they know you have a list of referrals. But those people will not be contacted with regards to your colleges admissions decision.

Good luck.

It really depends on what college you are looking to get into. If you want to be an athlete at your school you should get coach recommendations. In addition, look for the values that your desired school is looking for. You can look for this on their websites or other information on how to get into that specific college. Then you should try to get teachers or coaches to write something that shows that you uphold those values. Good luck!