<p>I am going to be a senior at a highly competitive public high school in California. Unfortunately, my counselor is going to maternity leave from this October to end of December. School authorities said we'll have a substitute during that time to cover. Will that be okay? What exactly is the counselors job other than the recommendations during the admission time? </p>
<p>my D has the exact same thing going on but her school’s counselor is already gone…and has had a difficult recovery so will be out the entire college admissions season. In this case, the sub is going to use the original counselor’s email address (which I guess is loaded into Common App) and she really isn’t going to be able to do anything other than making sure the transcripts and rankings are delivered correctly. </p>
<p>You can also hire a private college counselor. That’s what I do, and I know many work electronically or locally as well.</p>
<p>The GC’s role is to prepare docs that accompany your applications and offer you guidance, if possible. Many students have no deep connection w/their GCs – and colleges are 100% cognizant of this – it won’t be detrimental to you at all. You have no need to worry here.</p>
<p>@BorntoHelp: while your advice meets one need, a private counselor has nothing to do with the logistics of what the HS student needs from his/her high school (transcripts, coordination of other documents, school reports, etc.)</p>