<p>The 2 counselors at my school look after about 550 students each, so obviously they don't personally know everyone, and if anyone, they probably know the failing, bad kids the best. Is anyone out there in a similiar situation? </p>
<p>How am I supposed to ask for a good recommendation from my counselor whom I have spoken to twice (both times for schedule changes) in my 3 years of high school? When colleges say that they require a counselor recommendation, do they mean strictly a counselor, or can it be another school administrator/another teacher?</p>
<p>Most schools will require you to submit a counselor recommendation AND 2 letters of recommendation from teachers. The counselor recommendation is looking at what kind of school you attend, how competitive it is, and how rigorous your courses are based on what is available at your school. The colleges know that many counselors do not know the students very well. </p>
<p>Go in this fall and meet with your counselor. Ask him/her what they need from you to help them with the recommendation. You can discuss with them the schools you are applying to. The person may want a list from you of all your in school and out of school activities that you have participated in. I think that if you take the time to meet with your counselor, your anxiety will be relieved.</p>
<p>Yeah, this is one area where some private schools have an advantage over large publics. DD got a thoughtful, personal recommendation from her GC. </p>
<p>I agree with shennie that the best you can do with a GC who doesn’t know you well is to give him a list of your accomplishments, awards, and ECs. Should the GC not address those in his recommendation, I’m sure the adcoms who read your application will notice the disparity (between what you put in, and lack of same in the GCs letter) and make the necessary mental adjustment.</p>
<p>OP, this is a common situation in a number of HSs. Even though we have smaller
numbers per GC at my HS there is a similar lack of familiarity scenario prevalent.</p>
<p>The way around it is to put together a writeup detailing formal awards, activities and,
accomplishments; get your parents to write a few paragraphs about you; also
freshman/sophomore teachers as well (those you will not be using for reccs). </p>
<p>GCs usually want to do their best for every student. They will follow through with an
excellent recc. If you help them in their job.</p>
<p>Ask your GC if your school does “brag letters.” Early in my D’s senior year, we senior parents got an email from the GC asking for one. She also had a huge caseload and couldn’t possibly know each student personally. </p>
<p>The instructions said something like “Write a letter telling me everything wonderful about your child. Describe her character and personality, her passions and interests, activities and achievements, anything that you would want a college admissions officer to know about her.” (The letter didn’t need to contain any info about school, since she already had records on that stuff.) I assume she used the brag letters for her own recc letters.</p>
<p>Einnob, assuming your GC has email, I would suggest emailing your letter, so the GC can cut and paste if she is running out of time. </p>
<p>Also, its not just bragging. When I met with my Ds GC, she was unaware that her dad and I were divorced in her freshman year, and GC was able to explain why the Fresh grades were so terrible. So if you have any extentuating circumstances, nows the time.</p>
<p>I have about 420 kids in my graduating class. Since the school is quite large, the guidance department has the students and their parents fill out “brag sheets”. From what I have heard, this works out pretty well. If you school doesn’t have anything like that, I would make an appointment with your counselor and see what she thinks of something like this. Not necessarily a standard form, but just a note and activities resume to assist her in this task. The following are some questions on the student’s form:</p>
<ol>
<li>In what areas of schoolwork do you feel most confident?</li>
<li>What are your strong points as a person? As a learner?</li>
<li>Do you believe your transcript is an accurate reflection of your ability? Yes ___ No ___
What factors (personal, family, social, academic) contributed to your performance positively or negatively?</li>
<li>What has been your most significant contribution to your high school or community? Which accomplishments are you most proud of?</li>
<li>Have there been events, circumstances, or experiences that have had a major impact on your way of thinking? (Moving, cultural differences, accident, divorce, death, etc.) Please explain.</li>
<li>If your counselor were to meet 100 seniors, how would he/she remember you?</li>
<li>Are there any factors about admission test scores that you would like me to address?</li>
</ol>
<p>These are the questions from the parent’s form:</p>
<ol>
<li>What were some of your childs outstanding accomplishments during the past few years?</li>
<li>Were there any major events that you see as turning points in your childs development? Please explain.</li>
<li>In which areas have you witnessed the most development and growth in your child?</li>
<li>What are your childs outstanding personality traits? Please use specific examples of these traits, if possible.</li>
<li>I am proud of her/him because (Use anecdotes, if possible)</li>
<li>Have there been any unusual personal circumstances that have affected your son/daughters education experiences or personal development? Please explain.</li>
</ol>
I think this is unfair; at private schools and publics in affluent areas the counselors see it as their responsibility to get to know the kids and to actually provide guidance. In most of the other publics, the guidance counselor has 700+ kids and spends most of her/his time working with the ones about to drop out or with serious issues; the kids bound for colleges are seen as success stories and pretty much left to their own devices.</p>
<p>Institutionally, policies like this work to allow colleges to select wealthier kids without having to admit to giving them a preference. “Evaluating counselor letters” sounds like a neutral criteria, but where do you think most kids who have counselors that get to know them come from?</p>