<p>school frowns on meeting gc prior to junior year (don't ask). I remember a thread awhile ago about questions for your gc...could anyone show me the link?</p>
<p>If that is the position of the school, especially a CA public, chances are you know much more than the GC. I'd just ask for the college book, school profile and any scattergrams. Then you can tell them how to correct the school profile.</p>
<p>The most critical information you can get from your GC is where kids of the same class rank, SATs, and race from your high school were accepted and rejected. </p>
<p>Matching your high school's class rank with college selectivity is really important and very difficult for outsiders to help you with.</p>
<p>True, put another way, what I wanted from our gc was a list of match schools. Where did gc think my kid had a decent (50-50-ish) chance for acceptance. From that we came up with our rough list of safeties and reaches. </p>
<p>Might also want to use gc as resource for scholarship information.</p>
<p>Don't listen to them if you ridiculous answers, though. Students in the top 15% at my school were told to consider community colleges. Most told that are headed to UT.</p>
<p>thanks, all. </p>
<p>Yes, as with any Calif public, the focus is on the UC's and Cal States, which I totally understand. But, of course, neither of those systems require recs, from teachers nor from GCs, so workload is different. Just to make it more difficult, school system doesn't rank, but I'll inquire if they 'signal'...</p>
<p>Zagat: definitely will press for the profile, but I've heard it don't come out of the system easy. (mushroom theory of management....keep 'em in the dark and feed 'em bull....)</p>
<p>mnd: hadn't thought about asking about rejections, thanks.</p>
<p>Great point, Krazy. We heard from a senior parent last year, that the GC tells EVERYone to apply to a Cal-State school so they'll get in somewhere, even kids who have elc status and would be automatic admits to at least one UC campus.</p>
<p>My GC helps me out by showing me books like Rugg's Recommendations which lists majors and different tiers of schools with really great major programs. Otherwise...my school doesn't like to tell people whether they have a shot at X college or Y college. Too many parent issues when the kid doesn't get in.</p>
<p>Other than that, my GC just tries to steer me away from "majors with poor career prospects" and more towards the math and sciences.</p>
<p>If the GC is going to be the one writing your child's recommendation, then for better or worse, a transparent relationship is in order. You need to know what s/he's going to write about your kid and to make sure his/her information is accurate and complete. Some schools have a formal process that includes checklists and resumes. If not, make up your own. Basically, what ever your feelings are you and your kid need this person, so try to keep your relationship positive. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Just to make it more difficult, school system doesn't rank, but I'll inquire if they 'signal'...
[/quote]
This is really critical. At my son's school, and I think this is quite common among schools that don't rank, the GC indicated the student's decile. You need to know how they actually signal. If your child is borderline, like my son, it's helpful to find out if they're willing to fudge a bit.</p>
<p>There is a wide, wide range of involvement between the GC's office and the Adcoms. Some are attached at the hip to the extent that the GC operates as a "broker" for his/her charges. This can be wonderful if your kid is in the inner circle, or disastrous if s/he's not among the chosen few. To the other extreme, some GCs have absolutely no relationship with any colleges (or at least the ones that matter to your kid). Again, you can't do much to change this situation, but it helps to know how much influence the GC can and will wield on your child's account.</p>
<p>Lastly, since I'm already grossly oversimplifying here :), GCs seem to fall into two general categories -- the overly optimistic "don't worry, he's a shoe-in at MIT" to the gloom and doomers "Has she considered a vocational school?". Listen, but don't rely entirely on either one. Nobody's guaranteed admission at any superselective. You know that, right? And on the other hand, the Aim Low philosophy is, I think, sometimes just the GC covering his/her behind. You know your child. Aim High (but love thy safety).</p>
<p>And more than lastly, I was greatly amused by Zagat's comment "Then you can tell them how to correct the school profile." My son's school put out a glossy pamphlet that was riddled with typos and poor grammar and they didn't take warmly to having it pointed out.</p>
<p>My experience has been that I wish I knew about CC before the college process. Find out if your GC has had any of their students get into the colleges that you think your child may wish to attend. If not, then read the posts here about what a GC needs to do in order to help a student get in. Ask other parents on this site what their experience was with that school - then make a list of requests of the GC - tell the GC that you have done research, and that your child wants this school, and others who were accepted had GC who did the following: Explain nicely that you know that it would mean extra work, but that it really is crucial. My D's GC, though very experienced, had no clue about the schools that my D was applying to - she had to educate her, NICELY. She had never heard of Middlebury, Amherst, etc, and didn't think UofCh was very competetive, and this we found out after it was too late! Luckily she was accepted at most of her schools, but the one she wanted, she was rejected. It turns out that from what I heard on this site, that she may have had a chance if the GC had established a personal rapport with the adcom and sell my D and her rep. We didn't know, so we fell with the EA slaughter. That doesn't means he would have been accepted, but she at least would have had a better chance. We are from a large public school, and the GCs focus on TX schools - they know everything there is to know about them, and they think getting someone into Rice is the epitome (Now, don't get me wrong - I think Rice is an exceptional school - up there with MIT, Stanford, etc.) but that means they have no clue about the top LACs or the ivies.And the only kids they talked to about applying to somewhere other than TX were the 2 NMFs - not the val or sal or others in the top ten of the class. So do your homework, and work politely with the GC. Have child request pleadingly that they do certain things so that there is a chance. And always follow up - at least 2 kids in the class did not have things sent out that needed to be sent, so their applications were incomplete to at least one school, and they were never even evaluated. It worked out, but it could have been disastrous. Remember, the GC has hundreds of kids asking for something - you have only one, so it is easy for you to remember to check, and easy for them to let things slip through their fingers.</p>
<p>Momratg, welcome to CA, where no recs, GCs or teachers, are required for state schools where the vast majority go.</p>
<p>Blue, the profile should be a document that's easily gotten from a pile in the school office. Scary if a school is trying to keep it secret. It's very baisc, and in my experience often the school can and will take tips from a knowledgable parent. This year I got a local public high school where I volunteer to make it much more detailed. We tripled our number accepted at top 15 colleges.</p>
<p>I personally think that a family has to accept responsibility for their child's college selection and application process. </p>
<p>Any assistance from the guidance office should be viewed as a bonus, but I wouldn't count on it. My D's GC handled the logistics of getting the apps and transcripts and recs in the mail and, as far as I'm concerned, did a great job. I don't think she had ever heard of my daughter's college.</p>
<p>I could only find Part II </p>
<p>thank you, Xiggi.</p>