<p>I am a high school counselor in the Midwest. I guide students through the college application process and I work in a big, public school. I am also new this year and starting this year, I will write recommendations for my students. One of my students has told me that he has a strong interest in medicine and we talked about the possibility of incorporating this interest of his into my recommendation for him. As I work in a very big school and this is my first year, I unfortunately haven't had the chance to really get to know many of my kids, and he is one of them. So my question is, besides what I already know about this student and the parts that I plan to write about, do you have any suggestions for what I could possibly say in order to get the message across that he has the qualities to become a possible future physician? Any key phrases or key words or even sentences that show this would be great. This is my first time using cc and I thank you all for you input.</p>
<p>What you can do is ask the student for a resume and a description of some project that shows his interest in medicine. this may be a summer internship, EC, or school project. You could also solicit ideas from his biology teacher that would help you flesh out the recommendation.
However, in my limited experience, GC recommendations do not need to be as personalized and detailed as those of teachers. The important thing for you will be to provide a school profile and make sure that all the pieces of the application are received on time and sent out on time!</p>
<p>Your students are fortunate to have you as a GC.</p>
<p>hi phs counselor. i attended an elite prep school. we were required to complete a ten question survey for the counselors. each question required a paragraph response. some were run of the mill questions like "who do you admire and why?" and "if you had to pick your career right now what would you choose and why." other questions were quirky and designed to help the counselor get to know our personality like "who is your favorite super hero and why" and "what guilty pleasure television show do you never miss, why?". perhaps you could devise a survey like this so that you could quickly get to know the personalities and interests of your students. they could complete it over the summer and mail it to you.</p>
<p>^^^^ S's private and D's public schools requested students complete similar surveys and also requested them of parents -- who seemed more willing to promote their childrens' accomplishments!</p>
<p>Like INOHIO, at our HS the guidance counselors provide students and parents with questionnaires to fill out before the start of Sr. year. They ask parents to describe their children, strong points, weaknesses, and also ask some more interesting questions. If you would like to contact a guidance counselor at our school, send me a private message and I will put you in touch. I think that they would share..</p>
<p>Hi - I have had two children go through the college apps process in the last three years - different school and different counselors.</p>
<p>My d attended a small school and the gc was hands-on, to an alarming extent. She viewed the process as one between her and the student only. </p>
<p>My s's gc was also hands on, but considered apps a three-way process - school, student, and family. IMO it worked so much better. My son and gc handled most everything together, but when a snag hit (over a late teacher rec. that was needed for scholarship) gc contacted us, was honest about the problem and then worked with my son and the college to fix everything. He did get the scholarship.</p>
<p>I guess what I am saying is the student needs to advocate for himself, the gc needs to advocate for the student, and the family needs to provide solid support for both. </p>
<p>Despite the numbers, I always thought my s's gc looked at him as an individual and then did her counselor thing to see that she represented him in the best possible light.</p>
<p>Good luck - its a stressful time for students and parents. </p>
<p>The counseling department did have each student turn in a brag sheet - basically a questionaire to learn more about the student as an individual.</p>
<p>The GCs in my kids' schools requested a resume of sorts and for the kids to fill out a questionnaire. Parents were also given a questionnaire. This was to give the kids and the families the opportunity to share information that may not be in the school files or that you know, that may be very relevant to the student's situation. This also helps you in the event you get writer's block when you are working on the rec.</p>
<p>Same as many here, my kids attend a small public school. Each student is asked to complete a sheet with questions and spaces to address interests, ECs, possible college majors, etc. I wish I had a copy of my oldest son's to share but I don't. I remember it wasn't "paragraph" type stuff but more a line or two on about 10 topics/questions. The GCs at my kids school have around 250 kids they are responsible for and in that, a mix of 9-12. We send over 80% to college so each GC has around 50 seniors heading to 4 year colleges. They keep their "kids" all 4 years rotating in the new freshman. It's busy in the fall, but not too bad (or so they say). Their experience is primarily in the midwest although one is from the east, but you are pretty much on your own if you are looking outside their area of experience or their isn't an addmission recruiter that comes visiting the area.</p>
<p>Asking parents and students for information is great. We were able to tell the GC some of the things that the school never knew about that made her more interesting.
Avoid terms like "extremely hard worker" - that is sometimes code for "grade-grubbing pest". Instead (assuming it's true) praise the student's passion for learning for it's own sake and great intellectual curiosity. Mentioning that a kid participates in study groups and helps other students understand the material is good, compared to some other top student who just keeps info to himself to keep his grade higher.</p>
<p>Since you work in a large public school, I imagine you are responsible for quite a few students. Colleges will realize this when they see your school's profile. You will probably only be expected to write a short paragraph. Make the most of it by highlighting something unique about the student. Do not speak in generalities. Give personal anecdoctal evidence that supports your recommendation. Insight into his character is probably welcome. Also why he'd make a great doctor. Evidence of compassion, caring, wanting to make a difference, help people, cure disease--any personal angle that underscores this. Ask who the teacher-recommenders are and offer a different perspective. If his Bio teacher is saying he's the best student in the class, then there's no reason for you to say that his Bio teacher tells me he's the best student in the class. His academic record will most likely speak for itself. He will probably be writing about any research or internship that he has done. Concentrate more on the intangibles. You will probably be writing recs for many students applying to the same schools so keeping it short but personal will lend more credence to your recs. Good luck to you and your students. :)</p>
<p>What a great guidance counselor!, your students are very lucky. The questionaires are very helpful, both from students and parents. I also agree that it is a two way street. Students should always be encouraged to stop by and ask questions, meet in person. Maybe you can schedule just touch base meetings during study hall or even lunch? </p>
<p>My D's counselor really made the effort to get to know her, even if it meant tracking her down, sticking her head in her class and saying stop by. After a while D sought out her.</p>
<p>I would start counseling early - end of 9th/start of 10th - and work hard to introduce a note of reality as far as student and family expectations. Emphasize the need for solid safeties, building the list from the ground up. Hand them a copy of the common app early in the game so that they understand the framework they will use to express their accomplishments and interests. </p>
<p>Your job is a very important one. Good luck!</p>
<p>I might add just one more thing.... I really appreciate all your help and comments, but I think any suggestions that show the student's interest/devotion to medicine would be great! (like dragonmom did, except directed more towards medicine/health sciences)</p>
<p>Unless we know what the student has done to show his interest and devotion to medicine it's hard to make specific suggestions. </p>
<p>It depends on what the student has done. For example Student x has been interested in medicine for a long time, even though she was too young to volunteer in hospitals in elementary school she organized a fundraiser for Children's hospital.</p>
<p>Or: Student x has gone beyond joining xyz (medicine/science related) club. She's raised twice as much money, doubled the club size while she was president, instituted these new activities.</p>
<p>One way to think of what you might want to write is to think about what qualities make a good doctor - a problem solver, a listener, curiosity, perseverence and write about how she's manifested those qualities in her activities at the school. </p>
<p>Our counselor not only asks for the questionnaire others have mentioned, but also asks to see the student's essays. That way she can tailor her essay to help create a bigger picture of who the kid is, so that the application tells a coherent story.</p>
<p>Please take this question for the OP in the right spirit; I am not trying to criticize--but I am curious what the qualifications for the job of high school counselor are in your school district if you find it necessary to ask what seem like very basic job advice-type questions on an anonymous forum like this?</p>