<p>Has anyone been asked by the school to do one of these for the guidance counselor? Wondering how extensive to make it. Also wondering if anyone has seen the actual letter written by the GC. At D's school child waives right to see any letters. Maybe this helps GC be more authentic in what is written but do they attribute any quotes/examples to what parents provide?
Any thoughts or comments would be welcomed.</p>
<p>Our school didn’t have a parent brag sheet, but my kids did prepare a one-page document that I guess would be called a brag sheet. It was basically a loose resume listing their out of school involvements, ECs, and any academic info that particularly stood out. They offered it to people writing rec letters, all of whom were delighted to have the extra information, and I assume that’s what a GC would want. I do know some schools ask parents to do things like describe your child with five adjectives etc.</p>
<p>I helped create one for DS for his LOR writers. In addition to the list of ECs, etc, he listed GPA, class rank, etc for non-school people. He listed greatest achievement in school, most meaningful EC, favorite class and why, future goals, 5 adjectives used to describe, etc. He also listed the schools that he woudl be applying to along with the enrollment deadline. </p>
<p>He then created a short cover letter thanking writers and asking, in some cases, if they could write a paragraph about a particular attribute, such as leadership, dedication to community service, etc. That gave him additional rec letters to be used for scholarships. His teachers really appreciated the fact that he wasn’t running up to them for a new letter with short deadlines. </p>
<p>Many of the writers sent DS a copy of the letters, and most used things from the brag sheet, especially the descriptions and his future plans.</p>
<p>Our local high schools do given parents the option of submitting this. And the students as well. In the local high school, our 5 GCs have a senior class of 500 students most of whom are college bound, so that’s roughly 100 per GC that they need to write letters for - they can’t possibly know them all since each has another 300 students in other grades. As a result, they tend to quote what is in the letters verbatim, or so I understand from several of them. I don’t want to pass judgement on this practice because I know how over-worked they already are, but I’m not sure how much value added it really is. The important contribution on their end is how the student compares relative to their classmates, and to what the school had to offer.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the comments. I am making a list of things I hadn’t thought about before such as favorite class and why. I also like the idea of sending a cover letter thanking the writers. I am struck by how many teachers in D’s school are turning down students asking for letters because they are over-committed (one stated he did 70 letters last year and is cutting back to 40). I guess the parent brag sheet can be an efficient way for GC or other letter writer to convey details that will help set the student apart. It does feel somewhat daunting though.</p>
<p>My school had a parent brag sheet, but I filled it out for my parents because I know more about what I did in high school than they did. We also waived rights to see our recommendation letters for the GC, and most teachers kept them private too. </p>
<p>Sent from my DROID X2 using CC</p>
<p>Pay attention to the student brag sheet. I think our high school requires a parent brag sheet but also a student brag sheet. The GC copied as verbatim to the LOR. GC gave my daughter a few extra copies to apply to scholarships and that’s how I knew.</p>