what to do if your counselor doesn't know you

<p>Hi everyone.
I have a problem. My counselor doesn't really know me. She knows my name, and the classes I am taking, but nothing else. I feel like she doesn't have time at all for me. First of all, she has about 400 other students to "guide". Secondly, she is never in her office when I need to speak with her. Whenever I want to see her, I have schedule about seven different appointments, and show up each time. She will be available one out of those seven times, literally. Finally, she isn't a very--I don't meant to be rude--she isn't a very "bright" woman, if you know what I mean. When it comes time to ask her for a recommendation, I don't want to get a generic list of activities and classes with comments like "so many hard classes!" and "so smart and polite!", riddled with grammatical errors, so what should I do? I have made many attempts for her to get to know me better, but all has failed. I'm going into junior year. Is there any hope left?</p>

<p>I'm in the exact same position. I feel for you!</p>

<p>you still have your junior year to get to know your counselor and even the start of your senior year..dont worry too much about it..maybe send her an email..tell her you have really been wanting to sit down with her and discuss things..with a lot of students its hard..but you will stand out if you are one of the students trying to set aside some time for her to really get to know you..</p>

<p>Well I had to change GCs every year for 4 years So that sucks. However, I'm from a big public school so you really have to make an effort to get to know the GCs. Every now and then I take my off period (lunch/studyhall/indepentstudy) and go hang out there, regardlless of appointment. Have them help you decide what you want to do with your life. Also master the art of Scheduling, that is, know what classes are only offered when for next year, to help aviod conflicts. </p>

<p>You know the saying goes, If you can't do teach. If you can't teach be a gym teacher. If you can't do that be a GC. So we aren't expecting rocket scientists.</p>

<p>Just act how you normally do, and ask her about potential careers/majors.</p>

<p>yeah I feel for you. Our GC has like 500+ people. And he doesn't know anything. I think schools will understand that the GC has a lot of students and I don't think they'll hold that against you. Just make sure you talk with him/her about ur ECs and passions so he/she can incorporate that into ur rec.</p>

<p>My GC probably has about 200 people, but I only just started with her at the start of junior year. I never even SAW the guy I had before that. And so, none of the GCs know me at all.</p>

<p>Ask a senior or someone who has graduated from your school whether seniors have to fill out a "brag sheet" (a list of your activities and honors that the GC will use as a cheat sheet when writing your recommendations). </p>

<p>If your school uses brag sheets, you may not have much of a problem. Write a good one, and what you say will probably end up in your recommendation.</p>

<p>i dont know my counsellor very well. she has like 200 kids in the whole school and about 50 per grade. i think schools know it is hard for a public school student to get a very good rec from a GC, but it is possible and may help you alot (or not at all, i dont know). what my school does is have you fill out an info packet so the GC can know more about you like what your ecs are, your strengths, etc. also, we have teachers who dont write our college recs, fill out recs for our counsellors to use because these teachers know us better</p>

<p>Yeah, same problem. GCs have like 300 kids each. I'm a rising senior, and switched guidance counselors after 10th. And then for the first time I go meet her for my junior conference, I don't even talk to her because she had her student teacher GC girl who didn't know anything deal with me. So I've basically never met my guidance counselor and she needs to write a rec for me.. great.</p>

<p>And then there's another problem. I'm pretty shy in school when in comes to teachers, so basically I don't talk to any of my teachers beyond minimal necessary communication. I don't know how I'm supposed to get a rec from teachers I've had when I hardly paid any attention. Is it ok to get a rec from a 10th grade teacher, or is it supposed to be just junior/possibly senior year? Any help would be very much appreciated.</p>

<p>Thanks, guys, for all your suggestions. I've spoken to some graduated seniors, and some of them gave their counselors brag sheets with all their clubs, sports, volunteer work, and such, but they were not required. I will probably do the same. The thing is that the highest ranked school anyone really bothers to apply to from here is U Mich (instate), a public institution that puts more stress on GPA and SAT scores than ECs, recs, and essays. I don't know exactly where I want to go, but I want to aim a bit higher, if I can.</p>

<p>My guidance counselor really isn't much of a help at all. She doesn't understand why I think I'm "too good for the state school". I like Michigan and all, and have nothing against it, but I would rather go out-of-state. Also, I am one of those "Gifted and Talented" students who takes advanced classes, but it is a very limited program (about 65 kids out of 2000). She doesn't know anything about it, and doesn't make any effort to get any information, so I have to do all the research of which classes I'm allowed to take, the G & T graduation requirements, etc. on my own and pick out my classes without any help. It really is frustrating.</p>

<p>To 19382:
I believe most colleges allow recs from sophomore year teachers, although they prefer junior/senior year. If you have any teachers who advise any clubs/activities you are involved in, that would be really great because they can give an evaluation of observations made both in and outside of class. For example, my chemistry teacher-to-be is also my Science Olympiad coach, so we know each other pretty well, and I'm sure I can get a good rec from him. If you don't know any of your teachers well from junior year, make an effort to get to know them during the first semester of senior year. Speak up in class a bit more, join in discussions and debates, and ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it; it's a great opportunity to get some assistance in a subject you need help in, and to get to know the teacher better. You don't have to be best friends with your teachers. Simple comments like a "Good Morning, Mr. ____! How are you today?" can go a long way.</p>

<p>I know I will need to make a big effort next year to get to know my teachers, but I'm not sure I really have time to do this. I though recs were supposed to be basically just from junior year teachers? And I'm not involved in anything in school that my teachers can advise, just outside of school.</p>