<p>I've probably met with my counselor about three times and for about 5 minutes each. She knows almost nothing about me and is less than qualified to write an entire letter about why I should be accepted to Michigan. In order for her to write it she requires (same for every student/counselor) that YOU fill out a form telling her everything about you (ECs, positive qualities, goals, etc) so she has something to go on. I would say that most high school students don't have a very close relationship with their guidance counselors. So, why do we still have to waste everybody's time with this exercise in futility? Can't a sheet in which they fill in our rank, GPA, etc be enough. Why waste their time, my time, and frankly the admissions officer's time with this pointless exercise?</p>
<p>lol that's what I concern too. you know I'm international so the counselor barely knows about me unless I'm very famous. he does give every student a form to fill in like a resume so that the teachers can have something to write about me. I think teachers know me more thoroughly than the counselor does.</p>
<p>tru that
all i gave my counselor about me was a sheet i filled out with the stuff i did over the years</p>
<p>If your counselor does not know you, then you have no one to blame but yourself. You should make the effort to meet with and get to know your counselor because regardless of what you think about him or her. If your are waitlisted, denied or the school is on the fence about your application and contacts them, this is the person who is going to have to advocate on your behalf.</p>
<p>You should have talked often over the years... We are assigned to one counselor over four years, and anybody who basically is still breathing in our class is known by our counselor. </p>
<p>Oh well... and you didn't ask a question at all. Your just ranted lol...</p>
<p>I have a good relationship with my counselor and she is a nice lady. I just have only had to see her to mix up my schedule in order to fit in college classes. Does everyone else know their counselor on the same level that they know their teachers?</p>
<p>I agree with this. Even though I have seen my counselor almost every day since school started this year if only for a moment, he is new and I am nervous about him having to write a recommendation for me. I don't think counselor usually know their students as well as the teachers do, especially when there is one counselor for four hundred students.</p>
<p>I'm in exactly the same situation. I've met with my counselor thrice over the years in order to go over my proposed schedule for the next school year. Her recommendation will simply be based off a "brag sheet" which we all have to write. For people who don't engage in a sycophantic relationship with counselors by "making the effort to meet with them," the recommendations are utterly meaningless.</p>
<p>I have a good relationship w/ my counselor, and I go to a HUGE public school. Its your fault buddy, I tried to get close w/ the counselor and it worked</p>
<p>If your counselor does not know you, then you have no one to blame but yourself. You should make the effort to meet with and get to know your counselor because regardless of what you think about him or her. If your are waitlisted, denied or the school is on the fence about your application and contacts them, this is the person who is going to have to advocate on your behalf.</p>
<p>^that is a weird reply, considering the fact that in my school, i got a brand new councilor THIS YEAR (my senior year). no student has any control over this. how do you get someone to know you that has to write 500 other letters in about two weeks?</p>
<p>yeah, there are a lot of things however that determine how useful a counselor rec could even be. at my school, the counselors are incredibly inaccessible, and im happy that ive gone in to ask enough questions that my counselor knows my name. </p>
<p>nevertheless, the problem that i share with op and many others is that in many situations, its too hard for one to truly develop a good relationship with their counselor in a large public school. by this, i dont mean that its hard to get ur counselor to like you or anything like that, but the problem is that if you and ur counselor are friendly with one another, what good does it do a college if they ask ur counselor a question and he says "oh, well soandso is a nice guy... and...."</p>
<p>ive read in a lot of places though that the teacher recs are typically more important.</p>
<p>I have to agree with OP. When your school is more than 1000 kids with only 4 counselors, it's very hard to get to know your counselor and vice versa. I know there are kids who don't know their counselor AT ALL. I am familiar with my counselor and she knows that I am a hardworker and wants to take the toughest classes. But I think on a personal level there is not much you can do when there is little reason to meet with your counselor besides academic scheduling.</p>
<p>It's not like I need real counseling from them, I am very busy at school...there's just no time to do that.</p>
<p>...not to mention the inaccessibility of chatting with your counselor when they have a long line of people to deal with and are often out for some reason.</p>
<p>I agree with the OP too. There are TWO THOUSAND kids at my school and four counselors; I rarely schedule appointments just to chitchat, you know?</p>
<p>Fortunately for me, my counselor is one of my friends' moms, so she knows me better than most of the other 500 kids she's in charge of. ^.^</p>
<p>Yeah, it's hard to compete with 400 other students, but chatting once in a month or two makes a big difference. Fortunately, I think my counselor knows me, she helped me a lot when I moved to the school in 10th grade.</p>
<p>Our school has over 2600 kids on a campus built for only 1900, with only 4 counselors, one of them hired just last year. Needless to say, we're screwed. We can't really get to know them beyond the usual interaction because they like shutting the door to their offices and saying their "busy" ..all the time.</p>
<p>In fact, we have one counselor that's so horrible, she refused to write a letter of recommendation for one girl before because she said "It's a waste of time because you're not going to get in anyway." -.-</p>
<p>^^ I don't know whether to laugh or cry... o0</p>
<p>lol I know I had to have good relationship with the counselor. But I can't think of any reason to meet him. only when I need some help from guidance do I see him. and the counselor at my school is pretty reserved. I rarely see him making jokes</p>
<p>I've had 6 counselors over my high school career, my senior year counselor is brand new. </p>
<p>But I already spoke to the Penn Admissions people about this, she said that if it is clear that the counselor cannot discuss or recommend you accurately, then they'll revert to your teacher recs. So if you are worried about a sorry counselor rec, make sure you have a great teacher rec.</p>
<p>And I've noticed that the only people my counselor knows are the ones who are in danger of not graduating, did not graduate, or are dropping out. Seems unusual to me.</p>
<p>Exactly. unfortunately the kids who are doing poorly in school tend to get more attention in public schools, but the kids that have been building a strong academic performance tend to be overlooked. this depends on your school though.</p>
<p>
[quote]
that is a weird reply, considering the fact that in my school, i got a brand new councilor THIS YEAR (my senior year). no student has any control over this. how do you get someone to know you that has to write 500 other letters in about two weeks?
[/quote]
</p>
<ol>
<li>We are not writing 500 letters in 2 weeks (so lets not be melodramatic).</li>
</ol>
<p>You be proactive and make an appointment to see your counselor. You introduce yourself, let your counselor know that you understand that the relationship between the 2 of you are new. You come with brag sheet, resume or what other things in hand to give to your counselor so that you can have a jumping off point to begin the exchange. You ask how can you help your counselor get to know you and help with your evaluation.</p>
<p>Your situation is not new as kids move in and out of high school every year. I am seeing kids this year whose currently do not have a dedicated counselor because she died at the end of the school year and a replacement has not been hired. Those students were proactive and came to see me and and asked if I could work with them and I told them I will take them until a new counselor is hired. Unless you make the contact you will not knwo what their timetable or schedule looks like.</p>
<p>I also have kids who are new to my case load because like you they are coming in as seniors. Remember that the relation ship is a 2-way street and at the end of the day you are the one with the vested interest.</p>
<p>Yes, I totally agree as a counselor a lot of our time is spent on kids who have problems and sometimes our resources are spread thin for good kids. This is the reason that I am in early, I stay late, I am always available during their lunch hour, I hold groups, pop into classrooms, have a separated dedicated e-mail just for the students on my caseload and right now my calendar is booked for one on one appointments with my seniors. As with most things in life things come down to a question of worth and if this is really worth it to you, you will make an effort to invest in the relationship.</p>