<p>When i went to my GC for a recommendation, I gave her a completed senior profile~it contains 5 short essay questions such as "describe your plans after college graduation", etc. She read it because she doesn't know me too well. It was pretty much last on my to-do list because I had tons of other things to write. I ended up writing some so-so, 1 paragraph essays. Well, I found out on Friday that she made copies of it and sent it, along with the recommendation, to all of my colleges!! Grrr... Do you think the adcoms will actually read it? I'm applying to BU, Northeaster, GWU, and U.Mich. Oohh, I hope not... I spent all of 10 minutes on each essay. Did anything like this happen to anyone else?</p>
<p>my guidance counselor screwed up my gpa and attendance record.</p>
<p>i would personally write a letter to the school. if your guidance counselor already screwed up once, what's to say they won't mess up again? guidance counselor's are worthless in my opinion, people who hated teaching but don't have enough credentials to be therapists, in my opinion. i would step up to the plate, if anything the school will see how independent you are. it could be a potential plus.</p>
<p>One of my rec teachers - wrote me three letters (UChicago, St. John's, Shimer) - took two paragraphs from something I gave only her and included it in the recommendation. She said it was the funniest thing she ever read.</p>
<p>It's a true story...that I don't think is funny at all, but whatever. Oh, and it has a grammatical (very obvious) error. Yeah...Nothing I can do about it, in my opinion, and I think the same for you.</p>
<p>Lesson to be learned: don't give info to a GC, teacher, or anyone who is writing on your behalf for college apps without doing a thorough, meticulous job. It's not that your GC screwed you (though it may feel that way right now); rather, it's an opportunity missed on your part.</p>
<p>DS had to give the GC and one of his teachers answers to various items. We (parents) were also asked to provide written answers to some questions. Use these opportunities to help frame your application!!! You are being asked for a reason. Take the chance to make whatever points you want the teacher/GC to bring out in their letters. </p>
<p>Ultimately, you cannot control what these folks say about you, but I will tell you that my son's GC looked at his GPA and had one set of assumptions. When she saw DS's explanation of his grades (independently verified by some of what we said in the parents' questionnaire -- I didn't see what he had written), she got the message that the grades weren't the result of slacking or struggle with course content, and in fact, reflected a huge amount of personal growth over four years. This fall, when he started earning some significant awards, she understood DS's commitment to research, realized that he was serious about academic risk-taking -- and she told us she communicated this in her letter.</p>