<p>My D attended a public high school in NYC for one year. The GC there collected the transcript and all the recs and sent them in a package to each college together with a brochure describing the school, curriculum, grading policy and ranking procedures.</p>
<p>How many of your kids' schools do it that way? Should I encourage my Ds overseas school to make a package in this way? She is the only senior applying to an American university so it wouldn't mean an enormous work burden for them.</p>
<p>Yes, our public HS also does it this way. Anything generated by the school-transcript, school profile, teacher and GC recs are submitted in one packet from the school. Requests need to be submitted to the GC 3 weeks before the app deadline. The student is responsible for submitting the app w/essays and resume, test scores and app fee. This process seems to work very well.</p>
<p>Our hs also does it this way. I liked it. Don't know if it's important that it be done that way, as several here on cc seemed to do a lot of that packaging themselves - obtaining the teacher rec in a sealed/signed across the seal envelope and packaging them with their app.</p>
<p>I do feel that the School Profile (what you call a "brochure") is very important and students whose schools do not provide them are at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>my S school does it this way also. he takes their whole apps-essays and everything and sends them all together so nothing comes straggling in. we are responsible for the financial aid stuff-which is fine as i don't really want our local school people seeing our tax returns, etc.</p>
<p>Our kids' HS gives students the option of having the recs included in the packet or sent separately. The school does make a packet, which I think is a tremendous help in keeping the entire application together & makes it easier for the colleges to get all of the materials at once rather than piecemeal. Financial aid is of course separate, if you choose to apply.</p>
<p>My S's big suburban public high school sends similar packet. The GC's inform students of process very early in senior year so that teacher recs can be mailed along with GC's material. Works well, especially with the inclusion of the school profile that includes list of schools students accepted at previous year.</p>
<p>S's boarding school does this. It presents the information really nicely. Anything helps!</p>
<p>I like what our school did in this regard as well. The school sent one packet......the GC report, the teacher and supplemental recs, the transcript, and the school profile. My child sent the second packet which were HER materials....application, essays, resume, etc. The college, therefore, received two packets...one from school, one from student. As my D's finished an application and were ready to send it, they coordinated with their GC and helped him get his package in order and made sure it was complete and they both mailed their packages on the same day. Further, each package was xeroxed and saved just in case. </p>
<p>To the OP whose school does not have a profile, yes, the GC/school needs to provide some materials as to the curriculum, the grading policies and range, the way rank is configured, the type of school or population it serves, the avg. SAT scores at that school, the percentage who are college bound, etc. They must have data like that available even if not written up for college admissions purposes. But a transcript without a school profile makes the transcript very hard to interpret and so I encourage you to discuss this with the high school and help in any way you can if they need it in gathering information that can get put in the profile or providing them with a sample profile from another school as an example.
Susan</p>
<p>I have a question for all of you. S#3 is applying to colleges now. His GC mails in one packet and teachers send in their own recs. S#3 wants to do his forms on line and in some cases the Common App on line. Did your kids do
paper copies to send in or on line copies of applications and why? What do you recommend? When my other kids applied to colleges, either there were no on line apps yet or colleges had just started using them but on line receipt was spotty at best. Thanks for your advice.</p>
<p>Mine did online (including commonapp for those schools) whenever possilbe. Supplements sometimes were not available on line. There have been numerous debates about advantage/disadvantage of online vs. hard copy. Some want hard copy to feel more secure that they've seen it, some want to make it pretty with specific fonts, layout etc.</p>
<p>My take is that schools seem more and more to PREFER online. My conclusion based on reading many posts on this debate is that it will not make a difference in whether you are accepted or not, so don't worry about it.</p>
<p>Most college websites give you a pretty good feeling about whether they have a preference. If they say it doesn't matter, I would believe them. (Some make it cheaper of free if you go online - I guess that tells you what they like best ;) ).</p>
<p>Our public high school makes the packets and most teachers include their recs in that packet. Occasionally, one will send it on their own or fill out an online rec.</p>
<p>Our public HS on Long Island also makes the packet. My d brings in the completed application (for that reason our HS discourages on-line applications- they have heard too many stories about kids applying while the HS is unaware and the colleges never get GC Rec. Teacher Rec's and Profile). The best thing about this method is that our school insists that all applications are sent to Guidance Office by 12/1 so that they can get the full package out to the college before Xmas. vacation. So it does force the kids to be finished with the college application process by 12/1. They seem to be pretty serious about it. Many a senior was absent 12/1 and 12/2 in order to get the applications in by deadline.</p>
<p>My children's school sends a packet of school-related materials; teacher recs were usually included but teachers had the option of sending their recs independently. Students send their own application packets.</p>
<p>Our school also packages and sends up to 6 apps, not counting our in-state publics that do not require teacher recs. They also enforce a Dec 1 deadline (which was actually Nov 29ish last year). The other thing that the office does which is great for the kids - students ask their teachers for recs (after consulting with the counselor, who knows who writes good recs), then they fill out a form giving the teacher's name and the date. The CC office then follows up with the teacher to get copies as needed, keeps the child out of a triangle where the teacher is procrastinating. Of course, the student has to ask the teacher and get the form filled out with sufficient lead time.</p>
<p>I thought the process at the school was well run, balancing student responsiblity with giving busy kids and families a helping hand - one of the best things they do. Now if they would just get rid of that online notification system...</p>
<p>My son's international school prepared a packet and sealed it. My son gave her essays, resume and whatever else they wanted to put in the same packet. I paid to fed ex each one. Our deadline was Nov. 15th. He did online apps as well so many essays were online. But there was still information & paperwork they wanted that went by regular mail including my checks!</p>
<p>P.S. Nothing was lost. A few unreceived SAT scores held up one school's response. Not son's fault. I don't know whose fault it was. College Board resent the scores when my son found out that a school hadn't received them. Just a heads up to folks applying this year. Don't wait to call and check to see if everything has arrived. Be proactive, because mistakes happen no matter how well organized things seem to be.</p>
<p>S also did all online apps. All of his schools said it was the preferred method and some even said that when they receive paper apps the first thing they do is scan it into their online system. Some schools also offer a reduced application fee for online apps and most make it possible to preview the app exactly the way the college will see it. Another advantage is that you receive an instant confirmation that the app is received. S had no problem with online apps.</p>
<p>Our HS sent the transcript and a descriptive sheet to each college, but teacher recommendations were sent separately.</p>