<p>DDs guidance counselor really only met her once before this year and once this year so far. Our school has more than 300 students assigned to each guidance counselor so you know they can't possibly do justice to writing up anything specific about any student's capabilities. I was really fine with that as long as they kept to a generic description of the school and the curriculum. I figured that her grades and scores would speak for themselves and that her teacher references would suffice. However, now it seems that the guidance department wants to include more specifics about the students and pretend to know those they don't know. They have asked her to fill out information about her accomplishments, her desired field of study, her extracurriculars etc. and have asked us to fill out a parent "brag" sheet.</p>
<p>DD turned over National Merit paperwork to guidance counselor after principal sent her there and now she can't fill out the paperwork because she doesn't know my daughter. </p>
<p>I'm really worried about this and this guidance counselor is VERY green (this is her second year on the job). Thoughts? Ideas on what we (DD or mom) can do?</p>
<p>Wow, this sounds almost exactly like my counselor (filling out the "brag sheets," et cetera) and counseling situation, except my counselor is not new to the job.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if I can use another school official to fill out my counselor recommendations? I am afraid she will not give my application a lot of effort.</p>
<p>Our public school is the same way. Colleges recognize that a GC recommendation from a big high school won't be as personal as one from a small college. It's not the end of the world. The brag sheets are very helpful - my son's counselor included a lot of information from it in her recommendation (according to him, she showed it to him not me :) ) I also know that the information got used for a school based award. (It was pretty funny because some of that information ended up a bit garbled - he'd listed the computer languages he could program in - and they got a few too many +'s in C++.)</p>
<p>Filling out brag sheets is a common practice even when counselors know a student very well and are very experienced. Since the counselors do not know what goes on in classrooms, the family circumstances of the students, the ECs that students have performed and the awards they have received, this is a chance for the students to provide them with the information that will enable the GCs to write more than "xy z is a student in good standing whose GPA is such and such and who made Dean's List x number of times."</p>
<p>Sharonohio's D should ask a teacher to write the NM recommendation. Provide as much information as possible, even anecdotes from the class that the D took with the teacher, since the teacher may not remember everything.
The brag sheet would come in handy, too.
For other kind of advice such as college selection, the D should try to come up with some criteria of her own (size, location, social scene, etc...) and ask the GC to help identify colleges that might fit.</p>
<p>marite, the NM recommendation must come from the principal or his designee. We can't go to a teacher and the principal passed the buck to the GC.</p>
<p>With regard to colleges, we thankfully don't need help from the GC. DD has plenty of ideas as to where she wants to go. </p>
<p>It just seems to me that these GCs who haven't got a clue should admit that they can't personalize the application and let the student go to teachers who know them better without having to worry about whether the GC puts in C++++ or other silliness.</p>
<p>I feel this reflects poorly on both the school and the GC and might reflect on DD therefore as well.</p>
<p>Be aware of the rules are at your school. There are times when it has to be the GC filling out the forms or you are going to be creating a fuss that may not be a good battle to fight. The reason colleges want a GC to fill out the form is not because it expects the GC to know your child the best. It is because the GC has available to him the performance and records of ALL of the kids in the graduating class, and get put your child in that perspective. It can be a flag if your kid's app is an exception to that rule.</p>
<p>It's not a big deal. My d had 3 guidance counselors in 4 years. Her senior year counselor was not only new to her school, but new to the area - he was from Texas, and we're in New England. Other than the big names, he knew nothing about schools in the Northeast. He met my d twice - once because I made the appointment to talk to both of us.</p>
<p>He wrote a fine recommendation for her and for his other students. </p>
<p>THis is not something you can control, and colleges know that. They don't weigh it too heavily.</p>
<p>A load of 300 is not unusual for a public high school. In many cases, there is a college counselor who gets to know the student only as a senior! Give the GC as much information as possible. I do not think that the GC letter is that crucial for NM or even for college admission. Sometimes, GCs only fill out the school information.</p>
<p>Public GC situation here, also--kids have to do the resume, fill out a questionnaire, parent's fill out a brag sheet. GC interviews you, asks teachers about you, and uses the info in the paperwork that has been filled out. </p>
<p>Every GC may have 300 kids, but not all kids are seniors and not all seniors are going to require recommendations. So the number of actual letters that will have to be drafted may be manageable. </p>
<p>Colleges look to the GC to tell them about the school (our school attaches a school profile) and how the applicant stacks up against other classmates (class rank, most challenging curriculum, official transcript, etc.). I agree with mathmom that colleges realize the workload of GCs in public schools and that any recommendation will be taken in context.</p>
<p>We're lucky at our school that the GCs cover certain parts of the alphabet, so each of the Ds has had the same GC for all 4 years. I've insisted that they make an effort to get to know them through the 3 years (and NOT because they have been naughty) prior to senior year, so that they won't feel so uncomfortable asking for that Secondary School Report and recommendation.</p>
<p>I agree with trying to help the GC out by preparing the materials. Keeping in mind they do not have 300 NM to do. It will help with schools as the GC knows your D better. But you can't sit back.</p>