My profile is very STEM-focused (math olympiads, programming etc) and I don’t play any sports, but I feel like my PE teacher is the one that knows me best, because we spent more time together and I helped in a lot of extra activities in the school. I don’t want to look like I don’t want to have other teachers to recommend me, specially those of more academic subjects.
Hopefully you are a junior because it is very late in the game for seniors to be asking.
STEM majors are competitive. You’re going to need a math or science teacher LOR. Whether the gym teacher can write the second LOR depends on the college’s requirements and to some extent the competitiveness of the colleges to which you want to apply. You have to weigh how much better the PE teacher’s LOR will be vs. the fact that it might look better to have one STEM and one humanities letter (with exceptions for future sports-related majors, or sports-hooked recruits).
I would not even make that exception. If we’re talking about selective colleges, even for the recruited athlete, the teacher LoRs should come form teachers of academic subjects - English, history/social science, science, math, foreign languages. The purpose of the teacher’s LoR is to describe you as a student. Even for the recruited athlete, the coach’s LoR should be as a supplemental or extra LoR, if the college allows. So to answer the OP’s question:
Yes, except as a supplemental rec.
Colleges look for teachers from core academic subjects – admissions officers want to learn about your academic capabilities and how you perform in a classroom. A PE teacher will not count as a teacher recommendation, even for an athletic recruit.
If feel your PE teacher knows you well and you want to ask for a LOR it would count as a supplemental recommendation (for colleges that accept a supplemental recommendation) and it should focus solely on personal attributes outside of the classroom that he/she learned about through the activities you have done together.
Many colleges suggest that a recommender be a teacher from a core academic subject as happy1 has noted above. Some are even more specific to say if you are applying for a STEM field, it should be someone in a STEM field. I don’t know how a PE teacher could possibly address your academic abilities.
Not a good idea. Listen to ski, above.
My S (not STEM) ended up with one LOC from a history teacher (S was a history major) and a second from his choir teacher, even though it wasn’t an academic subject. S felt the choir teacher knew him best. S did continue choir in college (and is still involved in law school). It worked out for him; he got in ED to his top choice.
Just remember, it’s not who knows you best. Colleges tend to ask for someone who knows you in the classroom context- yes, cores. Safest bet, one humanities, one math or science.