<p>I graduated from high school last year and no longer live in the same state. I've been asking my counselor/teachers to send their recommendations since the beginning of September, and the teachers finally did it 1 1/2 weeks ago. However, they didn't listen to me and apparently didn't read their invitations either, because they sent their OWN recommendations (not even the common application form) straight to me! I don't know what to do--- deadlines are January 1, and I can't contact anyone since it's winter break! Plus, I'm afraid that if I ask for them to fix it, it'll take them another 3 months!</p>
<p>And I still haven't heard from the counselor. I think that she retired based on what my friends have said.</p>
<p>What should I do about a) having no counselor and b) the screwed up situation with my teachers getting it wrong and sending ME the letters??</p>
<p>The colleges: Brown, Stanford, Yale, Colorado College (deadline is the 15th, so I may be able to salvage something).</p>
<p>Are any of those colleges understanding? I'm thinking no.</p>
<p>But I would think they SHOULD be understanding of this. This is something that is completely not your fault and out of your control. I believe you just need to have the main common app in by the deadline. You can then ask your teachers to mail the letters CORRECTLY to the institutions (not to you haha).</p>
<p>I would make envelops with the addresses of each university, postmarked and just give it to them. Then, all they have to do is fill out the letter of rec, make X copies, put them in the envelops and send them in. I <em>think</em> you should be fine even if you get to this after break (I mean IMMEDIATELY after break, mind you :p), but maybe should get someone else's opinion on this as well?</p>
<p>EDIT: OK I re-read your problem and found I addressed B but not A. As for you counselor, you need to find a way to contact her. I don't know what the deal with her retiring randomly in the middle of a school year is, but you need to contact her and be QUITE angry.</p>
<p>So, in short, for now, finish your common app and put a note in the additional info section explaining what's up with the counselor/teacher recs. Then after break, give VERY clear instructions to your teacher recs and HAND them all the materials they need. Make sure you constantly nag them to get it in IMMEDIATELY.</p>
<p>If you can manage to contact any of your teachers over what's left of break...... the sooner the better</p>
<p>Thank you. I'll definitely be taking your advice! I'm a bit worried, though, since Brown's website specifically states the deadline for each item- including the recommendations- to be January 1.</p>
<p>And I'm sorry that I wasn't clear on this-- I graduated last year (this is a gap year) and I believe she retired at the end of that year. I was unaware of this, I guess, because I moved immediately when school ended. </p>
<p>You can simply send the recommendations yourself. Put them in an envelope addressed to your colleges with your former school's return address and mail them. No problem. And it doesn't matter to most schools that they don't get the form - they pay more attention to the substantive recommendation anyway. If they still want the form, they'll let you know.</p>