<p>I don’t get this at all. What possible right does the GC have to tell you where you can and can’t apply? Apply where you want. What do you need from a GC other than the usual generic letter and for him to make the transcripts go from point A to point B on time?</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, the OP is not American.</p>
<p>Perhaps counselors where the OP lives have authority that American public school counselors don’t.</p>
<p>I do actually go to an American school. At my school the CC writes a 2-page recommendation letter and extensively communicates with basically every college that’s getting an applicant from our school. </p>
<p>I also do have other safeties, it’s just that particular one I don’t like. </p>
<p>I think I have reached a conclusion as to what I should do about this; I will just have a calm discussion about what it is I want to do, and ask for an explanation for why Georgetown is so unacceptable.</p>
<p>Thank you all :)</p>
<p>Just a couple of thoughts: Naviance will not show the religious affiliations (if any) of the students who were accepted by Georgetown from your school, DragonMagic44. Does Georgetown give a boost to Catholics in the application process? Would your college counselor know enough about the students he is advising, to know whether they were Catholic?</p>
<p>Seconding mathmom, I too have heard that Georgetown was the first college to have an imam. I think that Georgetown is welcoming to students of all faiths. I am not certain about this, but I think there is an atheists’ students group at Georgetown.</p>
<p>The distribution requirements there may include some classes that are religion-related.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That was another thought I had - that perhaps the GC is “saving” Georgetown for the Catholic students from OP’s school.</p>
<p>I don’t agree with it, but it would be consistent with his only comment to OP that Georgetown is Catholic and she is not.</p>
<p>The theology distribution requirement includes courses like “Existentialism during the Fifth Republic”. (Can you tell I had a kid who applied to Georgetown? He’s an atheist - he wasn’t sure if it would be his top choice if he got in - but it definitely stayed on the list.)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That doesn’t seem to be the case based on the HS classmates I knew and a cousin who attended Georgetown. None of them were Catholic and its Catholic affiliation was so much in the background that “Catholic” was one of the last things that would come up in their minds. </p>
<p>If anything, BC and especially Notre Dame were thought of more as “Catholic colleges” than Georgetown.</p>
<p>If you like Georgetown and feel it is a fit for you, so do apply. Ages ago, I was told not to apply to my #1 and that ate at me for decades. Years later, I realized (I now know this college very well) that it would have been a great match. Would I have gotten in? Maybe not, but I regretted not trying.</p>
<p>On the other hand, my D was given a very good list of colleges by her GC, based on her probable major and size, location, etc. Some didn’t interest her. Fine, she crossed those off. But, for one in particular, (one she had not visited, and it was competitive, not a safety,) the GC kept pushing,even nagging. DD finally gave in and did an overnight. Funny thing, within an hour or so of being there, she knew this was “it.” It became her #1 and she has been thrilled with that college experience. It turned out to exceed even what she could have gotten at the Ivy on her list. So, nothing is lost by keeping an open mind. In our case, the GC was spot on.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It’s not the GC’s place to “save” Georgetown for anybody. God, what a complete over-reach of what a GC is. This person has no power over you whatsoever, and let’s not kid ourselves, unless you’re coming from the kind of private high school where the GC’s are buddy-buddies with the adcoms, their opinions don’t count for anything. Getting “permission” from a GC to apply to a college seems to make as little sense as getting “permission” from the bank teller as to how to spend the money you’re withdrawing. The GC’s job is to write a rec and send your transcript. The bank teller’s job is to hand you the amount of money you’re asking for. Don’t give them power they don’t have.</p>
<p>OP, DS goes to a fairly competitive private school with a very proactive college counseling office as well. The GC was fairly lukewarm about DS’ application list - his test scores are high, but his GPA not so much (classic underachiever profile). Naviance predicted a number of the schools would be real reaches. DS went ahead with 11 apps - he’s been admitted to 10 (he was deferred in EA to #11, and hasn’t heard a final decision yet - but decided he didn’t want to go there anyhow). He’s gotten very good merit aid offers from a number of those reaches. He got admitted to what everyone thought would be the safety…with zero merit aid.</p>
<p>I think while the GC is great, he doesn’t know DS that well and, in particular, underestimated how strong DS’ recs and essays would be, as well as a particular academic passion he has that was a good fit for several of the schools. So don’t be afraid to color outside the GC’s lines. If he’s inclined to give you a lukewarm rec (but your others are good), he’s probably done the same to others over the years, Georgetown will know that’s what’s going on and can read between the lines (given that it’s a private school that builds relationships with selective schools like Georgetown).</p>
<p>My point in raising the question about whether the other students from the same high school were Catholic was not to suggest that Georgetown should be “reserved” for the Catholic students–it should not be, and clearly Georgetown does not intend that. It is a very interesting place, especially for anyone with a long term interest in government or foreign relations.</p>
<p>I agree that DragonMagic44 should go ahead and apply. I don’t think there is any need to worry about less effort being put into the recommendations. Most recommenders would simply cut-and-paste from the letters already written. Filling out extra check-boxes takes a negligible amount of added work.</p>
<p>My point was instead this: DragonMagic44 felt that Georgetown was a possibility, but a bit of a stretch, based on the admissions results from the local school. If Georgetown gives a small extra boost to Catholics (I don’t know, but wouldn’t be surprised if there was a little boost), and if the admitted students from the local school were Catholic, then maybe Georgetown is a bigger stretch than it appeared to be, based on the Naviance scattergram. Still, the OP should go ahead and apply, if it is of interest.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It should not be too hard to find one near many colleges, though. For example, a student at the University of Michigan at Dearborn can probably find one [url=<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Islamic_Center_of_America.png]here[/url”>File:Islamic Center of America.jpg - Wikipedia]here[/url</a>].</p>
![http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Islamic_Center_of_America.png]here[/url](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Islamic_Center_of_America.png%5Dhere%5B/url){kind=link}
<p>
You don’t need anything form a GC in order to apply to a college. It’s nice if they write a rec letter but it’s not essential. Regarding the transcripts, it’s been my experience this is something handled by admin staff at the HS, not the GC, and the admin staff have no say in it either other than possibly to charge you a fee for sending more than a certain number of transcripts.</p>
<p>Apply where you want regardless of what this GC says. Just based on a couple of your comments here I wouldn’t trust this GC at all. The GC should never say not to apply someplace without right away giving you a reason. The GC also shouldn’t try to manipulate where the students are applying based on whatever their potentially flawed idea is of where every student ‘should be’. A lot of HS GCs really aren’t all that swift or knowledgeable and I’d take what they say with a grain of salt - especially this one.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And the vast, vast majority of students applying to college - even elite colleges - are coming from high schools where the GC is basically providing a rubberstamp “this kid isn’t a discipline problem, and here are the transcripts” and has no connection to the college adcoms. And colleges KNOW this. So don’t kid ourselves they really care what the GC at Somewheresville High thinks, says, or does, when the GC at Somewheresville High is just a random name to them.</p>
<p>It should not be too hard to find one near many colleges, though. For example, a student at the University of Michigan at Dearborn can probably find one here.</p>
<hr>
<p>Good heavens, a student at UMDearborn can find an imam on any street corner! Dearborn has the highest concentration of Muslims in the U.S. In fact, there are foot-washing stations in the school bathrooms. :)</p>
<p>Well, if OP’s GC routinely writes a 2 page letter and is in touch with colleges, this suggests a more elite high school. Yes, an adcom who’s used to hearing from the GC will note if a particular candidate from there does not get the same treatment. Among the unwanted assumptions could be: either the kid isn’t on the ball and missed informing the GC or the GC is not endorsing this one. So, for OP, best is what he/she is doing: talk to the GC.</p>
<p>I go to a pretty good elite high school, if I do say so myself, and my CC has actually worked at some very reputable higher-level institutions in this country and his input actually matters. That said he is far from mean or manipulative; he is actually one of the nicest persons I have ever met. Which is why I find this particular case so very strange, he hasn’t said anything along these lines about any other school–not other non-secular ones. </p>
<p>But I believe this issue will be resolved very soon and I’d like to thank you all for your input on the situation–it has been very helpful to me in deciding my next course of action, and also in deciding whether I want to go ahead with the Georgetown application at all. </p>
<p>In a way this problem arising has been beneficial to me in that it has forced me to look more clearly at the school and to look to any conflict between my views and the school’s that might exist, creating a good precedent in my college search :)</p>