I’m having problems with my schools turning in counselor recommendations (+ school reports).
I’m a gap year student, and also transferred my senior year from one public high school to another overpopulated high school.
I require counselor recommendations from both schools according to 8 different colleges that I contacted. 6 of which have a January 1st deadline. I contacted my recent high school and they should be alright with getting it in (took 4 months and still don’t even know if they’re on board yet). However, my former high school has never heard of a counselor recommendation/school report, nobody has ever filled one out, a very very select few (like 2 or 3 out of 800) go to privates, most of which are not elite whatsoever. What do you suppose I do?
Counselor recommendations aren’t just for private schools. The public schools require them too. They are part of the common application, so I find it hard to believe that a school of 800 students doesn’t fill out hundreds of these every year - assuming we are talking about a US high school. I think you need to speak to someone in the guidance office there who knows whats going on - not a dept. secretary or student aide, but an actual dept. head.
@Hamlin that honestly doesn’t make any sense. As N’s Mom pointed out, virtually every college requires this so I think maybe there is a communication issue here. Have you sent the people you’ve spoken to (“College Counselor, Records and Guidance Counselor,”) the link I posted earlier?
The school doesn’t offer emails on the site, just a phone number where I need to call every hour and pray someone will pick up to redirect me to an office. Most CUNY Colleges don’t require Counselor Recommendations. Most students in that schools don’t go to college, I’m honestly not surprised that they’re unaware (one reason I left that school). The college counselor knew what a counselor recommendation was actually, but didn’t help at all, she just said we can’t do those for you and promptly hung up after a ‘bye’.
edit: I thought I could get away from the incompetence of the staff but nope, it haunts me even within a month of the college deadline.
I’ve been trying to gain access to this for about 3 months now, I’ve showed up once and nothing, I get the same answer.
Time to call the schools you have applied to and discuss the situation with their admission office. Explain the situation. Ask them if there is a work-around that you can do given that your other high school has provided the necessary documentation. Tell them who you have spoken with in the registrars office at the school that won’t supply the rec (with contact info so they can verify.) It might help.
Meanwhile, contact the principal at the ‘non-compliant’ school and set up an appointment. (Get your parent involved if necessary.) Explain the situation to him/her and ask if they can help you get the documentation you need. Do this ASAP as you are approaching the deadline. Waiting 3 months to buck this up the line was a mistake. It should have happened after the first phone call to the registrar in which they said they did not do this kind of document - about 2 months ago.