I find the question about the mom writing a letter of recommendation to be interesting. My son is homeschooled, and as his guidance counselor, the directions on the common app give me the opportunity to write his letter of recommendation as guidance counselor, which I did for a variety of reasons. What I find interesting, and the op might find interesting too, is that the only school who was not going to accept this letter was an ivy school. The only reason we know they questioned it was when my son checked his portal for that particular school, it showed that the guidance counselor recommendation was not yet submitted. After a phone call and an explanation of why we preferred to go this route, they agreed to accept it. That being said, when a school has so many applicants who are so very qualified, they have no reason to really consider a mom’s recommendation. As with my son, I doubt your mom’s recommendation will help your cause.