How did you guys get your recommendations and from whom?

Well it seems pretty obvious to me, ask your manager (or higher if you can) and they will provide one. If you have recently been in school get one of your professors to write one.

You can literally ask anyone from work or school.. 500 words takes like 10 minutes to write if they know you.

That's not what I was trying to convey.

Of course they care how well crafted it is, 500 words of general chit chat won't be worth anything, it needs to actually show why you are good at what you do / why the school should accept you.

You mean 7-8 letters for one person? Yes that does seem a bit of a stretch to ask. Why can't they just write you one letter?

Whyphy, have you had any experience with the bschool application process?

I'm in the same situation. I'd like to apply for 6-8 schools and they each require minimum 2 letters NOT from a professor. That means 12-16+ letters ( Some schools require 3). I'm currently looking at 3 different people to write 3-4 letters each which brings me to 9 total but that limits me to applying to only 4-5 schools..

The questions asked on the recommendation prompts are generally the same. They may be worded a bit differently or some schools may ask one or two additional questions from the most basic ones, but your manager or whoever is writing your recommendations should not have any problem crafting answers that apply to all schools.

I found that the best people to have write recs are those that work with you on a regular basis and that you have a good relationship with. You want someone that knows your work product well and that also wants you to succeed in the application process. It would be extremely helpful if you can find someone who fits this criteria and who also went to b-school. That way they have been on your side of the process and know what a rec letter should look like.

7-8 MBA programs is a lot, but not unheard of. I personally applied to 6 programs during round 1 last year. Definitely required some serious work-planning, but it was manageable.

In terms of recommendations, it is not unreasonable to ask your recommenders to write multiple letters. Most of the top schools ask the same or similar questions (although there are outliers) and your recommenders can copy/paste across multiple schools. You should do everything you can to make this easier for them, such as researching the questions schools ask and making suggestions on how to re-cycle content for schools that have different questions. I prepared a ~10 slide ppt document for each of my recommenders that detailed questions, deadlines, logistics, and explained the story I was trying to convey in my application. I had two recommenders do all of my letters (6 each) and it was probably only 20-30% more work for them than if they had each only written one letter. Its still a big ask of a busy person, but if they aren't willing to happily take it on, you should look for a different recommender.

On a similar note

Is it ok to get a letter of rec from my advisor in college.

Like 1 from a supervisor at the previos work place

and one from a college advisor

(not entirely possible to ask a current supervisor/boss to write a letter of rec)

I've written plenty of recommendation letters. You can basically use the same letter with all schools. Maybe you have to cut and paste a little, but it's the same basic content for virtually every school.

What you should do is provide a basic outline and timeline of what you want conveyed to the recommender. Make their life easier. Nobody wants to think too much about details when they're writing these letters.

(This is regarding letters from school) Find a guy with a reputation for writing killer recommendation letters. It really helps if he's the head of some of your subjects and you have performed well/stood out in the lectures, or he generally knows you. Create a warm relationship with him, show him your motivation and make sure he knows you're going all-in. Get 20 minutes of his time to tailor the letter. Talk about exact positions and companies you want to apply. A recommendation letter shouldn't just be a bunch of nice words, it should be planned together by the 'recommender' and the 'recommendee', to coordinate with your own mot. letter and CV. If you have a solid/friendly relationship with your recommender and he doesn't have reasons to question your motivation or intellectual capability, he will find the time to help you. Or even better, let you write it.

It's also a good idea to get relevant recommendation. For example, I applied for SA positions and I asked for a letter from the head of my quant. studies. Luckily he also met all the above criteria and it's safe to say we came up with a very strong letter.

Although i don't use LinkedIn much (I don't remember who, but somebody here said it's like Tinder for the unemployed and I really like this analogy), ask your recommender to endorse the skills he brings out in the letter.