Hi there, long story short the guidance counselors at my school have around 600-700 students each and know very little about each student as an individual. Furthermore, my counselor knows very, very little about the college admissions process and likes to point out that going out-of-state is “always a waste of time and money.” What should I do regarding my counselor if I don’t trust her to write me a recommendation, nor do I trust her to write one that accurately reflects who I am?
Sadly, you don’t have that choice to skip that REC if you are applying to certain schools. The only comfort in all of this is that there are a heck of a lot of kids in the same situation as you are.
Usually, the counselors and teachers who are writing your LORs, give out a questionnaire, asking for your input. That’s where you Give them all of the info you want brought up in your application. Many things come out a lot better when mentioned by someone other than the applicant. I suggest starting a list now, that you can add to and change over time so that it’s optimal by the time your recommenders need it
You could try sending her a sheet with some of your information and activities that you’ve been involved in.
I think that colleges with take the fact that you go to a large school into account when reading your guidance counselor rev.
My oldest daughter had a counselor who was new - his first year after certification. She gave him a brag sheet telling him about herself, so he had something to work with. He had about 300 advisees, so was doing apps with about 75, none of whom he had met before school started in September.
My youngest will hopefully have a GC who has been at the school for a year when she applies in the fall. I say hopefully because she’s had 4 since her freshman year, including a 3 month period where she didn’t officially have one at all. The school Principal and the other GC did their best to complete recs for the seniors applying then. Following those 3 months she had a great GC, who owned his own private college counseling business, but alas he was the most recently hired within the district, and when the district made cuts a few months later, he was gone. This year we inherited a GC whose position at her previous school was eliminated. Colleges don’t expect your GC to know you particularly well - their input is more to put your record into context with the rest of your school, and marking whether you took the most rigorous schedule or not.
Send me a PM and I’ll send you my high school’s questionnaire. My high school has about 300 students per counselor. I talked to mine rarely and she frequently got me confused with my twin sister. I had to explicitly tell her not to talk about “my” passion for music.
I’d also be prepared to explain why going out of state is worth it for you.
Another avenue–if there is another counselor you trust who doesn’t think going out of state is a waste of time and money, you could ask if he or she could write your rec. A few of my friends were assigned my counselor and elected to have another one write their recs. They did very well in the admissions process.
Disagree with the idea that you can ask a different guidance counselor to write your LOR - that is simply not an option. However, agree that you can offer to give your guidance counselor information (a resume, list of activities or something along those lines) to help him/her write the LOR.
Also know that admissions officers understand that many guidance counselors are overwhelmed with students and don’t know them well. Use your teacher recommendations to try and stand out
If the GC doesn’t know you, you could certainly try to reach out now, not just worry about the LoR, later. True, the GC may be busy, but you slide in for a quick and tidy meet, pre-arranged. Be prepared to summarize your college goals, reasons, and how you’re working toward those. Not just a list of what you do now.
It’s about more than just handing over a piece of paper listing clubs, titles, awards. Find the 10-15 minutes to meet. Next day or so, you can give or send her/him a brief summary. Eg, the interest in Medill, why, how you’re engaged in writing now, whatever. A reminder of the convo, done simply, maybe one paragraph, not pushy. “Thanks for the time,” etc. Ask for it to go in your file.
Adcoms know not all GCs can write something relevant. The idea is you help with a little more than your hs resume.