Which GC to do recommendation?

Parent Cafe
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<p>My daughter has had a new GC every year. And she is applying to some hard to get in to schools. The head of GC knows her. I like the head of GC pretty much. But I have found the GCs at our high school to not care much at all about kids getting in to top schools. It is rare to see anyone go to one of the harder-to-get-in-to schools. It is clear that this is not really encouraged. In fact, a common statement heard around here by the GCs is "there is nothing wrong with community college" said as if, a choice to not go to community college is an insult. </p>

<p>My daughter's stats are workable for the reach schools, but perhaps average or maybe at the lower end, depending on the school. When my daughter has mentioned some reach schools, even ones closer by, the counselors seem to know nothing about them. They have a list of the state schools and that is the end of their knowledge. </p>

<p>Would it be better to ask the more experienced head GC to do her recommendation because she has experience in this? Or to have the one assigned to her, who is in her first year EVER as a GC. Yep, she just got her master's and is brand new to the job. On one hand, the older one knows us and perhaps is more experienced. But on the other hand, the newer one might have more energy for this (she has a smaller load of students and being new to her job, might not rush over this as much). The more experienced one in the past asked that my daughter's stuff be sent to her. But lately, she has not been. And I am worried about having the older one do it because she is the one who pushes community college. I am worried about having the new one do it because she is brand new. It sounds like it might be a toss up?</p>

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<p>That’s a hard one. Since your daughter knows the head GC, I think she should make an appointment and talk to her. Perhaps the head GC can write the letter while her regular GC does the rest of the paperwork. My older son got a new GC sophomore year, and we liked her better from the get-go. If he’d been a senior I wouldn’t have hesitated to have her do the recommendations even though she was also brand new to the school (and insisted on calling MIT an Ivy!) Our school’s GC recommendation relies heavily on information from parent’s brag letter and two in school teacher recommendation (can be but don’t have to be the same as the teachers who write recommendations for the colleges), so a new GC isn’t really a big problem. No GC knows the students well as they have 200 or so students each.</p>

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<p>S had a new GC every year in HS as well; each one left at the end of the school year. Fortunately, his senior year GC had been his freshman soccer coach, so could make references to how much S had matured in the four years. It may have been his first year as a GC (background was actually in social work), but he was also a strong writer. The letter of recommendation was stellar - he actually shared it with me to make sure the info was correct. If you feel more comfortable with the head GC, then go with her.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>