<p>Does anyone know what is expected in recommendations? I have read both my teacher and counselor recommendations. THey both very nice and talk about my accomplishments but it didn;t seem like they knew me very well. All three talked about what a great student I am but it didn't seem like they actually knew me, which is odd because all of them do know me very well.</p>
<p>It means they don't want you to go, perhaps due to a personality flaw or such. Or, maybe they truly DON'T know you even though they "know" you. You see?</p>
<p>Consider yourself lucky (unlucky?) to have seen your recs. At my school, they still live in the Dark Ages. You don't get to see them. One of the three teachers I asked actually gave it to me and I delivered it to Guidance. It was excellent - I was like, is this me? However, the other 2 sent theirs to Guidance so I don't get to see them. My GC is so old-fashioned, I will never get to see his letter. He hardly knows me so I find it quite unfair that he even writes a letter. I come from a public school, so the GC meets you once a year (or less) and they don't even care. Also, there are some teachers who let the kids see their recs. I think that is also unfair. It should be all or nothing. My mom used taught one year at a Catholic high school and she made copies ot all the recs she wrote and mailed them to the students. I think that was nice. I recently won a national award and my school sent it to the newspaper. My principal and GC never even acknowledged it. I Do you think they would put it up on the front board or announce it? I dont' care about the recogntion, but heck, I have worked hard for it. I hate my school.</p>
<p>I know how you feel, mel5140. Public schools...where our class' 3 GC's have 300 kids each. Talk about a generic rec. =(</p>
<p>well, a lot of schools want you to sign a waiver saying you wont see it, so that might influence their decision.</p>
<p>Psssh. 300 kids for a counselor? We have like, 1000 per counselor. To make it work, this year, my senior year, I was given a new counselor. I've met with her three or four times (within the last month), and every time I see her, she thinks I'm a stranger.</p>
<p>work=worse*</p>
<p>Excuse my typo.</p>
<p>wow hearing about you gc's makes me feel very blessed to know that i have excellent guidence counslers and teachers. i have seen my gc multiple times in the last few weeks. she helps me all the time, and does a good job. sorry guys.</p>
<p>At my school, you never even meet the guidance counselor. When you see them, they run away from you. I send in a request and never hear a response.</p>
<p>my counselor hates the IB Diploma kids...the only time I saw her last year was to fix my schedule conflicts...and she kept telling me how IB kids think they are special and always want the best.</p>
<p>she gave me ten questions (why you want to go college, strengths/weaknesses etc) and told me to e-mail the response. Then she e-mailed three of my teachers to get some more comments from, and then compiled all that stuff in like 30 mins to send my rec.</p>
<p>I swear she has no idea what sort of person I am or anything. I didn't give her a resume/brag sheet so she told me she checked "no basis for judgement" for EC/community involvement....which sucks because I have been very active...ah well</p>
<p>runningcirlces what is the basis of that comment</p>
<p>Well, the personality flaw was my being caustic. Sorry about that, I don't know you that well so I didn't mean it. But, maybe they don't know you. Like, with one of my teachers I gave the rec form, she put down "hard working" blah blah. Nothing with my intellectual pursuits. She just didn't know me. Then, I gave my rec form to another teacher that I was a bit wary of and she knew me like I know the back of my hand. Just hand out a bunch of rec forms and see which describes you the best.</p>
<p>wow, some of you guys actually get to see your recs? i thought the whole point was that they were supposed to be confidential. if you're allowed to see them, how can the school trust that the teacher/gc has given an honest assessment? if you're writing a rec for a student who will see what you've written, obviously you're not going to say anything disparaging, whether or not they deserve it. it seems to me that a rec which a student has been allowed to read loses all weight. i don't know if the adcoms agree, but that's just my thought.</p>
<p>Dharmabandit, just as it's your prerogative to waive your right to see the recommendation, it is the right of your GC/teacher to show you the rec he or she has written. The teacher is in NO WAY obligated to show you the rec, but some will do so even after the student has waived his or her right to see the rec, that's all. If it's the teacher's CHOICE to show the rec to the students, I don't think there's any risk of the rec being dishonest.</p>
<p>SEW, the recs are confidential, and the teachers are supposed to mail them out on their own. And yeah, they ARE supposed to talk about your character</p>