<p>Are Counselor Recs required for the application?
I know teacher recs are optional but what about counselor ones?</p>
<p>Counselor recs are not required.</p>
<p>They’re not required at UT. </p>
<p>But I would say counselor recs in general are pretty useless unless your counselor really knows you and your personality and if they heard your name come up out of the all the people in your class (especially in a really big class) they’d know exactly who you are. Otherwise, your rec letter will be a typical “so-and-so is a good student and they’re involved in blah-blah-blah because they gave me a list of activities they may/may not be in” But really, that says NOTHING about you as a person if the school you’re trying to get into is looking at you as much as they’re looking at academics. So if you’re not in the top 10% or really now, 8% of your class, your recs weigh more heavily and having a great counselor rec can help. </p>
<p>Remember, your counselor has many students that he/she has to make/change schedules for so the 2 or so hrs you’ve spent talking to them about your schedule each year is not enough to make them know you. You still have some time for them to get to know you before writing a letter so do it, if a counselor rec is necessary, which they usually are for out-of-state schools and you might get a letter that actually stands out from everyone else’s.</p>