<p>And why is it that?</p>
<p>what about if you go to a school where the guidance counselor barely sees you?</p>
<p>I would assume (and hope) it's teacher recs. I hardly ever see my guidance counselor.</p>
<p>teachers. usually counselors dont even kno the students</p>
<p>fsdfsdfdsfdsfd</p>
<p>wha??? but i read somewhere that guidance counselor recommendations were most important</p>
<p>I'm thinking teacher recs as they actually see you in an academic setting and have day to day interactions with you.</p>
<p>counselor recs can help an applicant, but normally that is when explaining exceptional circumstances (i.e. death in the family), the reason why a students grades aren't up to par (teachers often cannot do that). </p>
<p>But for all intents and purposes, a teacher rec. would have to be more important when it comes to admissions</p>
<p>If the counselor knows you well and shows that in the recommendation, it can be just as important.</p>
<p>I didn't even know my counselor until asking her to fill out some forms/recs. She was cool about it though.</p>
<p>A very important aspect that the GC can inform file readers is the relative strengths of the high school. They'll be candid about the caliber of classes available, the % of students who go to 4 yr pgms, the % of students who are eligible for free/reduced lunches. All of this is very important for the adcoms to understand the HS context, if they already don't have working relationship w/the HS.</p>
<p>Also, they know (more than your teachers who have only seen U in one or two classes) if your overall transcript represents a rigorous courseload or not.</p>
<p>My counselor didn't know me well either: yet I got into all schools applied, eventually matriculating at one of the HYP colleges.</p>
<p>Good luck folks.</p>
<p>wait</p>
<p>where do they put the % of students who get free lunches, and where do they put the % of students who move on to 4 year programs?</p>
<p>like.... where on the application do they put it? it doesn't seem to be a place on the common app for them to put it.</p>
<p>I really, really hope it's teacher recs. I actually have great relationships with my teachers. My GC and I.. well first of all, I hardly know her. o_o I can't imagine her saying much good about me besides "amb3r is a good student." and maybe listing my awards or something... ugh.</p>
<p>I think for huge schools, colleges care more about teacher recs. They realize that teachers understand students way better than counselors do when each counselor only sees the student like twice a year..</p>
<p>Parkrunner,
Sometimes schools include a "school profile" with the transcript that includes the kind of info you mention. This link might interest you.
High</a> School Profiles - Ask The Dean Your GC can tell you what school information goes out with to your transcript.</p>
<p>Teacher recs. Some public schools are huge and counselors don't even know a quarter of the kids.</p>
<p>my counselor gave me glowing reviews- and she's known me for 15 years. my teacher recs are the same- and he's known me for 17... so the admissions counselor won't think it's weird that i got really high marks?</p>
<p>In my school's case, in addition to the teachers we're getting full letters from, we have to ask three other teachers to write a paragraph and submit them to our GCs. So the counselor recs are based in large part on teacher recs.</p>
<p>Our school requires seniors to fill out a two page profile asking questions about their ECs, favorite classes, favorite things about high school, other interests, non-school related activities and so on. It also has several questions for parents: how would you describe your child? favorite childhood memory, etc. Students are also required to write a brag sheet. These documents are copied,filed and made available to the GC and every teacher who is asked to write a rec. This must be helpful to teachers and the GC! </p>
<p>My D has had teachers say they will not comment on the student's overall performance in school, when they write the rec, but only what they experienced with the student in their class. The GC has to present the big picture.</p>
<p>^Same with my D. She had an interview the counselor as well. I think it depends on the school, but the counselor is more important, she has an overall picture including ECs and stuff. My D counselor is very tough, if she likes a student then that studen is alright.</p>