Hi everyone, my guidance counselor just changed positions. He used to serve my last name, now he is with a different group of students and a new counselor is assigned to me.
The problem is, I’m heading into senior year and have spent 3 years with this counselor. I feel I’ve built a good relationship with him and he really likes me. The letter he would write will probably be unique and impactful.
I have never met the new counselor before and I doubt much of a relationship can be established in the next 3 months before college applications are due.
Can I request my old counselor to write the letter for me? That’s allowed right? If not, what should I do?
This kind of thing happens all the time. The school, not you, will determine whose responsibility it is to write the LOR. I can’t imagine it will be up to the student to pick who writes the LORs.
If it is the old guidance counselor that is great and it is easy for you.
If it is the new one I would make an appointment to meet with him/her as soon as school starts to discuss what colleges you plan to apply to (be sure to ask his/her opinion on the list) and ask if he/she wants to see a resume, list of activities (or whatever you have) to help with the LOR. I’m sure your old guidance counselor will consult with him/her.
Keep in mind that guidance counselor evaluations very very rarely will make or break an application. In many schools guidance counselors are overwhelmed and barely know the students, they may change late in the game for various reasons etc.
And one more word of advice, don’t worry about things out of your control – all you can do is make the most out of the situation that is presented.
Students get a new counselor for all kinds of reasons.
Your old counselor is still in the building.
The new counselor will meet and collaborate with your old counselor. Let them work this process out. Don’t try to control the situation by going behind your counselor’s back.
Op just stated that s/he has a good relationship with his/her counselor.
Don’t take this at gospel, that counselors don’t know their students. Just because the student is not sitting in the counselor’s office for hours on end, doesn’t mean that counselor has not gotten to know the child. There are many counselors in public schools who get to know all of their students, who write excellent recommendations and have established relationships with their regional admissions reps to the extent that they can pick up the phone and advocate for their student.
This happened to my son last year. The former counselor drafted a letter and provided it to the new counselor.
My son attended a large, public high school, but had a reasonably good relationship with the former counselor. He met with the former counselor and asked how the letter would be handled because he did not have a relationship with the new counselor, and that is what the former counselor suggested. The new counselor was happy to have one less letter to write herself, apparently.
Although it seems likely that a counselor’s letter won’t “make” an application, I do think that a lukewarm letter could break it. Regardless, it is definitely important that the counselor check the box that the student has taken rigorous coursework (if that is the case and if the applicant is applying to selective schools and/or seeking merit aid). We learned kind of late in the process that our son’s high school didn’t have hard and fast rules about what constituted the most rigorous coursework. Our son was well within the “most rigorous” designation, but some of his friends were borderline and different counselors at the school checked different boxes for kids who had taken the same courses as each other.
Don’t worry. The guidance counselors will figure that out. You can definitely meet with your new counselor and ask what the procedure is in your case. Will the old counselor write it or will the new? You can bring along a brag sheet and any paperwork to help the new one get to know you better and leave it with him or her. At many high schools the guidance counselors don’t know the kids at all. You are lucky that you know your old one for the past three years and they are still in the building
Thanks everyone for your responses!
I feel more relaxed now, knowing that most of the situation is out of my control. I’ll meet with my counselor once school opens and discuss with him what he recommends. If he’s willing to write the letter and submit it himself or send it to the new counselor that’ll be best. If not, I’ll try inquiring if he’s able to meet with the new counselor and sort of tell them what to write. No matter what I’ll make sure to give whichever counselor I get a resume and brag sheet.
I’m confident that the new-to-you guidance counselor is qualified to write a letter of recommendation without any need for you to “sort of tell him what to write.”
Take a moment and re-read the advice.
— You need to meet with your current (new) guidance counselor, not your former guidance counselor at the start of the school year.
— You should not ask your old guidance counselor to write a LOR – your HS will determine who is responsible for writing it. It is not like a teacher LOR where you get to decide.
@bjkmom On what basis? I’m under the impression that colleges want these recommendation letters to offer a perspective that the transcript and stats don’t offer. This new counselor knows nothing about me or my presence in the school and will have to figure out plenty of things before the letter is anywhere near as strong as it would’ve been if the old counselor wrote it.
That’s why I’m saying if the old counselor could “help” him, the new counselor would not only appreciate an easier job but it’ll also be beneficial to me
Help from the old counselor is fine; there’s a protocol in place in your school when there’s a new counselor installed.
Help from you is a different matter.
Your counselor will let you - and all the other seniors effected by the change-- know what documentation is necessary. You do not have to “sort of tell him what to write.” The letter is not supposed to come from you; your essay is your opportunity to present your point of view.
@bjkmom oh there was a bit of miscommunication on my part. On post #6, I meant that the old COUNSELOR would say what to write not me haha. Sorry for the misunderstanding
I am in the same situation. I go to a huge public HS, and my GC is leaving to be a GC at the new HS in my district. We had a good relationship and she knew me well. (She also knows about my medical disabilities which have affected my schoolwork a bit.)
As soon as school starts it would be a good idea to meet with my new consoler and ask if there’s any way I could get my LOR from my old GC?
Not trying to hijack the thread, but my daughter’s GC retired last May. He has known our family for over twelve years and was counselor to my two older stepchildren, my son and my daughter. Her new counselor will be new to my daughter’s huge public HS and will have over 400 kids. My daughter asked her retiring GC to write her letter before he retired. Why wouldn’t my daughter be able to use her retired GC’s letter? I never even thought there would be an issue until I read these posts. Everyone here seems to think that it doesn’t matter. I don’t buy that as her previous counselor knows her on a very personal level that is fairly unusual in a huge public HS.
My daughter has a meeting scheduled with her new GC at the beginning of August. I guess she will find out the policy when she meets with her new counselor.