College Application Season is over + there’s nothing going on at school, so why aren’t my recs + transcripts being sent?? it’s so aggravating omg. The only school I’m safe at is Hotchkiss since they pushed the deadline to the 20th, but I’m still bothered. I emailed all my schools telling them about the delay and I hope it gets through to them. (Note: I’m aware my counselor may have other things on her plate. Just feeling a bit off since I’ve asked since October.)
Update: she started doing it and the transcripts say “in progress” while the rec letter is “approved”
Based on what you’ve written here, the onus is on you as you haven’t asked your guidance counselor since October. As deadlines approached you should have been in touch to remind them, and sometimes several times. There are likely many students with deadlines needed for various things for various reason and your requests got lost, buried, forgotten, sent but bounced from the server, anything!
I did though. Email, came to her office, I actually just came back from her office. And I let it slide since college > boarding school. As soon as we came back from break on Jan 5th I let her know over and over. Again.
Then if you are honestly doing your due diligence, perhaps you need to mention it to the head of guidance or even head of your school about this issue. If it is only the end of term transcript and that has either just passed or is soon to pass, schools are well aware of this. If you are still waiting on recommendation letters, you will need to contact each school you apply to and ask if there is any other option at this point. They may be skeptical as to why this person is not writing a recommendation however, though I would tend to think if anyone wanted to truly sabotage your application, they would actually write an awful letter rather than ignore. It is a very busy time of year for school, summer, camp, job, scholarship applications so your counselor is likely quite overwhelmed. It certainly does not help you with that but, the only ones who can answer as to what you need to do are the schools you apply to.
Each school may have a different solution, some may be more lenient than others. You may want to approach them after you:
remind the counselor again
let the head of your school know of the issue
approach another teacher asking if they would be willing to quickly turn around a letter for your applications IF the schools you apply to allow it as an alternative; this can be helpful when approaching your AOs in saying “I’ve tried XYZ, I reminded counselor and spoke with HOS, I have even checked in with my XXX teacher who would be willing to write a letter on my behalf in short notice if it was at all possible” something to that matter. Will they go for it? idk. Worth a try? At this point, anything is.
College Application Season is over + there’s nothing going on at school, so why aren’t my recs + transcripts being sent??
Ok so again I am completely not understanding what you are asking. You said your recs aren’t sent in the original but in the last, you said they were. Are you just missing transcripts which people have posted time and time again on the board that schools are well aware that these often come in after the deadlines based on when end of terms are? If your term just ended then for the love of god let your school get that stuff processed! Teachers get time to submit grades often times up to a week after exams, sometimes admin has to review them for any issues (especially if schools use comments), grade reports may need to be printed for all families (my son’s school still does paper copies), schools may have hundreds of transcripts to send out that were requested by students, schools may have no way to send official transcript copies to places students are requesting them to be sent and rely on snail mail around the world. You, as a student, have zero idea that “nothing is going on at school”. There is ALWAYS something going on at school for someone, please don’t be one to think the world revolves only around you.
If you aren’t waiting on recs that one minute you say you are waiting on then the next day you aren’t, and it’s been more than 2 weeks since your grades came out, then inquire as to why they’ve not gone out yet. Our school has someone other than guidance who handles those requests, if that’s the case where you are, go to that person and ask what is going on. If you have received your grades, send a copy to the school and mention the official copy is still in the works.
I’m assuming the poster means the official school letter that usually comes from a guidance counselor or a vice principal (or in some cases there is a secondary school counselor or access/community based org counselor who is tasked writing this letter for 8th graders who are applying to high schools).
It’s very unclear what she is talking about at this point which may lead to the school being confused as well.
If things are missing:
Making a list of each person that you need something from/done (can’t figure out anymore if your counselor needs to do anything or not from what you’re saying so I’m saying for each player you need something from).
For each person, make a list of exactly what you need from them. Make it specific. “Transcript sent to school ABC. Reference sent to school XYZ”. Include due dates with the words OVERDUE.
Resend any/all links to submit letters and transcripts and tell the person you are so they can find them near the top of their email list. If you requested in October, those links are buried. Don’t make them look for them.
If you need to provide snail mail addresses then do that in the list you give to the person so everything is in one place.
Yes stay on top of it but NO do not worry. Truly.
Don’t let it fall through the cracks of course but do NOT worry that this is a problem yet. It’s just one element (counselor + counselor Rec form is what I understood from your posts) and schools are VERY used to getting those a week or two past the deadline.
Stay in communication with school and counselors, and then consider involving parent and your school’s administration if you don’t get any clarity in the next week. It’s way too early to worry. I know it’s stressful though!!!
@Pharmingturtles do you have a child already at boarding school, or already through boarding school? Because from your previous posts it sounds like you are also going through the application process for the first time. No issue with you sharing your perspective or what you’ve learned, but I don’t think it adds value to suggest an applicant is confusing a school to which they’ve applied. Again, we are dealing with anxious 13 and 14 year olds, and prefer helpful advice that offers reassurance where possible.
@cinnamon1212 I never said she was confusing a school she is applying to but perhaps her counselor which she is trying to get things from because from her posts I was confused as to what she was needing. One place she said she needed transcripts and recs from the counselor then another she said she got her recs in November. It’s called clarity in what you ask for. I then laid out steps and tips she could go through in getting items she said are missing in her application both recs and transcripts. Don’t understand what or where my kids are in the process matters when giving information about how to go about getting the needed documents. I did not realize you had to be a special class on these boards to know how to go about getting transcripts or recommendation letters. If that causes anxiety, having someone hold your hand after asking for help then I’m really sorry for you. I don’t see any suggestions from you helping her out. So rather than come at me, why don’t you provide suggestions for the poster on how to get what is needed to complete her applications. I understand you seem to have an issue with everything I post. Great, good for you on that. But your post coming at me does NOTHING for this poster’s problem.
@Pharmingturtles my three kids have already graduated from boarding school so I am not anxious at all about the BS application process. I asked if you had already been through the process because those of us on the other side have perhaps a different perspective on things than someone going through it for the first time.
I find your tone unnecessarily harsh. Telling a nervous 13 year old “for the love of god let your school do its job” or not to be someone who thinks the world revolves around them is unkind in the circumstances.
I would like to remind posters that College Confidential is supposed to be a place that is welcoming and friendly, or at least civil. So please keep that in mind when posting
Still on “in progess” and “approved.” I’m sending her an email rn (again.) will be going to her office (again, 3rd time this week) she said she has a bunch of other deadlines so ill lay off her, but man this is stressing me out lol. Alr gotten emails saying “incomplete application, needby febuary 1-8” I’m already at a disadvantage due to me applying as a junior, so I’m really in need of this