<p>My son goes to a large public school where the Guidance counselors are always busy with helping students stay in school. He doesnt really get college advice from his counselor and although she knows who he is, she doesnt really know him well enough to give anything more than a reciting of his accomplishments. I do not think he would get a great or personal recommendation. However the HS Principal and my son meet almost daily to work on projects important to the school, so my question is it acceptable to have the Principal write my Sons recommendations for college. I think he would if asked, but how would colleges look at it?</p>
<p>^only if the principle is close to the student like in this case. If a student just asks a principal for a rec so that admissions will see "Principal" instead of "Guidance Counselor" but the content is weaker/the same, I wouldn't call that an advantage.</p>
<p>Thanks, was not mysure myself, but would have advised my Son to ask the principal because he knows my S better than the counselor. Any other suggestions?</p>
<p>IMHO, I think that your son should try making an appointment and getting to know the GC. </p>
<p>Can and do principals write recommendations for students, yes, but it is not the norm (in my experience the principal will write the rec at the parents request, because they may not want the GC to write the recommendation). I think that the principal letter would be a great complement to the GC letter since they will have different relationships with the student; the GC can write holistically while the principal writes about the project that they have worked on. However, I don't think it should take the place of a GC letter.</p>
<p>You need to sit down with the principal to ask his or her thoughts about this. The principal may push back and recommend that the GC does it because they may not want to set a precedent of having to write recommendation letters for other students whose parents may want the principal instead of the GC to write the letters. </p>
<p>Remember that there are check off boxes that the GC may be in a better postion to answer than the principal.</p>
<p>Update - tried make appointment for S with GC today. She resigned last week along with the only other GC who knew my son. Guess It’s better than last year when all 4 (out of 4) left the week before school started. Open for suggestions…</p>
<p>A guidance counselor rec will be more accurate within the context of the entire school, but an additional principal rec will show how involved he is. However, if the GC is completely incompetent, I might hand the rec to the principal to begin with.</p>
<p>NCmentor, if your son's principal is willing, it is fine to use him for the written recommendation. After all, it's called a School Report, not a Counselor Report.</p>
<p>However, one very important caveat. The person that colleges will call for follow up questions and information is still probably going to be the guidance counselor, not the principal. So, first of all, make sure your son lets the guidance counselor know that he's asked the principal to write his recommendation and have your son keep the guidance counselor in the loop about his plans, applications, and admissions decisions. I would also highly recommend that he ask the principal to give the GC a copy of the principal's recommendation letter, so that if a college calls, the GC will be "on target" in terms of answering any questions in a consistent way. </p>
<p>And, just remember, if a student is waitlisted or deferred, they'll need and want the guidance counselor on their side in terms of follow up with colleges. If you don't keep the GC in the loop, you may not have their full support if you need them to help smooth out problems or get answers for you. </p>
<p>Again, nothing wrong with asking the principal to write the recommendation, but your son needs to remember that working with the GC is still going to be necessary.</p>
<p>Whoops, just read the update, but the advice still stands. It's fine to have the principal write the recommendation, and could be a very good idea under the circumstances. But, still make sure that who ever is hired to replace the old GC is kept in the loop. Hopefully, you'll get a decent GC this time around. :)</p>