<p>Local public schools wouldn’t be likely to do that. I think a public school system has processes and controls that would preclude handwritten comments and notes or unscreened messages from getting through, if only due to the sheer numbers. A small private school on the other hand…well, that would be the type of school that might not have tight controls. </p>
<p>That’s not really the point, though. Where comments are screened and vetted, the concern is that there’s a huge difference between comments sent home for middle school parents and comments made where the teachers understand up front that these comments are going to be reviewed by admission committees and the school is a stakeholder in having success at placing students in top boarding schools.</p>
<p>As for whether he suffered as a result, no. Everything went well in terms of outcomes – which is not to say he was accepted everywhere. I just doubt any comment altered an outcome – for better or worse. </p>
<p>It sure would help, though, to know what the boarding school is seeing when the application goes in. That was a surprise to me. Especially when a handwritten comment from a PE teacher – directed to me because I had helped out with that unit – was called out by one dean of admissions. My (unstated) reaction was, “Whoa! Time out! You saw that? If you saw THAT, then what ELSE did admission committees read in the various teacher comments that I didn’t think twice about in terms of the application?”</p>
<p>Maybe I’m the only one who would be surprised by this. Perhaps this is well under control for this year’s applicants. In that case, carry on, there’s nothing to see here. If not, then I hope my surprise last March proves helpful to those going through the process this year.</p>