Sorry, but everybody knows that getting a "Top few" checkmark is equivalent to +500 on your SAT score; any other checked box is an automatic rejection.
We can't have anyone who isn't the best at everything attending our top colleges, obviously.
Anyways, IDK about teacher recs, but I know that for counselor recs at larger schools there is no way they can check off top few for all of them! That would give that kind of status to the entire school.
In the end recs are relative--as long as they are decent, you are ok. If amazing, it's an added bonus. If negative, well then, that's when you should start to worry.
I personally think colleges use the rec to check for the consistency of your perception of yourself (as conveyed in the application) with others' perception of you.
Colleges aren't stupid, if they see teachers writing one of the top in my career more than once very couple of years, it means nothing. I'd focus on the content of what they wrote. (I don't know how you saw yours, teachers in my school NEVER let students read them...)
Replies to: No 'One of the top few I've ever encountered in my career'
We can't have anyone who isn't the best at everything attending our top colleges, obviously.
500 isnt even that good
Anyways, IDK about teacher recs, but I know that for counselor recs at larger schools there is no way they can check off top few for all of them! That would give that kind of status to the entire school.
In the end recs are relative--as long as they are decent, you are ok. If amazing, it's an added bonus. If negative, well then, that's when you should start to worry.
I personally think colleges use the rec to check for the consistency of your perception of yourself (as conveyed in the application) with others' perception of you.