So Much for a Good Counselor Recommendation

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>This is a bit of a rant, but I swear there's a valid point/plea at the end.</p>

<p>The new school year started on Wednesday, and guidance managed to screw up my schedule for the fourth time in four years. Way to go! At the end of last year I got called to guidance about dual enrollment, which I vehemently denied wanting to take, explaining I was taking AP English 4 and that's why it, and not dual enrollment, was written on my senior schedule. Fast forward to Wednesday. I get to school and notice I have no English class but instead geology! My friend and I had the same schedule, but in place of geology she had - lo and behold - AP English 4. I went to guidance immediately only to realize they had locked their doors to shield themselves from the angry students. Posted on the windows were sign-up sheets for our respective counselors, and I managed to be the fifth senior on my counselor's list. </p>

<p>Two days later (we didn't have school on Thursday) I hadn't gotten called to guidance by the time my English/geology period had rolled around and headed to English again. The teacher informed me I had to go to geology because she had gotten chewed out for letting me stay in her class and I had been marked as skipping. Lovely. I marched down to guidance and, tearfully, explained I needed to see my counselor because I didn't have my English class.</p>

<p>Ten minutes later I was seated in my counselor's office accusing her of screwing up my schedule because she knew I wanted to take AP English and not dual enrollment. She gave me some lame excuse and became very defensive, saying she only put in the classes that I wanted. I asked her what she meant, because I had never said anything EVER about dual enrollment. She pulled out last year's senior schedule pick and tried to convince me that I wanted geology only to be shot down when I pointed out that it was on the bottom of my "alternative courses" list. She changed my schedule in the end, but not before saying maybe English hadn't fit. I told her that was entirely plausible minus the fact that my friend had the same classes I had except English in my geology slot.</p>

<p>I won, but at what price? I'm sure I'm going to receive a very sub-par counselor recommendation now because I was rather bitter and, if not rude, highly sarcastic. Is there any way I can salvage this?</p>

2

<p>Who cares? Do you think colleges honestly care about counselor recommendations? How is the counselor supposed to know each and every student in depth? Most of the time counselor recommendations are pretty generic. </p>

<p>You did the right thing. Sometimes you have to be assertive to get things done, especially with school administration.</p>

3

<p>Yeah, I'd say forget the counselor anyway, unless someone specifically asks for YOUR COUNSELOR. My kids have never met their counselor and when we needed a rec from him, we wrote it ourselves and he signed it. My son said, "Mom! He never even read it. I wrote that I'm a god!" Needless to say, we did not submit that particular letter of rec. Relax and enjoy English 4.</p>

4

<p>sorry. :(</p>

<p>if I were you, I'd done the same thing (minus the sarcastic/rude part). I'd say, being assertive is a great value and strength to have (your counselor should def. mention this on your rec). as for me, i always feel a bit intimidated by teachers and counselors, so i always appear like a pushover in front of them (not something you'd want on your rec). so don't fret.</p>

5

<p>Counselor recommendations are used to explain the school more than the students. They look to see what kind of classes you are taking compared to what the school is offering. It is also used to show how you stand in comparison with your classmates.</p>

<p>Having a counselor that knows you is just a perk.</p>