<p>I go to a medium sized public high school with ~550 students per class, and we have about 10 counselors, so each counselor has to write letters of rec to about 55 students each. There is no possible way they can keep track of who we are or have personal experiences with us. I was amazed that my counselor almost got my name right.</p>
<p>Our school has a "brag sheet" on Naviance, and I have filled that out, so I'm sure my counselor will write a letter of rec based off of it. But honestly, why do colleges requires letter of recs from counselors? It seems very pointless to me.</p>
<p>Agreed. I go to a small school, but the counselors usually keep to their own. Mine won’t even help me with seeking out scholarships! She just directs me to our career coordinator (who is actually very helpful).</p>
<p>Beyond the words of the “rec”, they provide an objective summary of your HS so colleges can really compare apples to apples. Data such as % kids who go to 4 yr colleges, % of 9th graders who graduate in 4 yrs, % of students eligible for reduced/free lunches, course offerings and other demographics.</p>
<p>Colleges know that many GCs don’t know the student well, if at all. It’s a given so it’s taken into account.</p>
<p>“But that defeats the purpose of a recommendation letter. They should just attach a boiler plate to our applications instead.”</p>
<p>They ARE the ones to attach the boiler plate info sheet to the colleges – in addition to any recommendations (if needed). Many colleges don’t need/want counselor recs. Counselors’ first duties are to provide the transcript and the “boiler plate” school summary. For the few students that need an additional write up, they do that as well. Most don’t need 'em.</p>
<p>College admissions officers are FULLY aware of the transient nature or thin counselor knowledge of most students. It’s not held against you. I spoke with my GC once or twice in four years. Got admitted to all schools applied and matriculated at an HYP. Stop worrying.</p>
<p>This is my admittedly biased interpretation of this, but I see it as a throwback to the “good `ol days” when college was a place for the wealthy to get to know each other, and admissions happened when the adcom from Yale or whatever visisted their feeder prep schools and said “we need 15 boys this year”. The situation in public schools is exactly as you say, so demanding a counselor letter lets schools discriminate in favor of wealthy kids (who go to private HS or live in expensive areas with fantastic public schools) where the ratios are much smaller and the counselors make a deliberate point of getting to know each student.</p>
<p>Seeking the letter these days lets adcoms filter out those from privileged backgrounds (who can pay sticker price) without appearing to discriminate based on financial status.</p>
<p>Here’s an example of why I think this, a quote from the US News a few years back
Can you guess the social background of most of the kids Gary is going to be admitting? My guess is for every public HS go-getter with a fantastic counselor letter, Gary is going to get 10 run-of-the-mill kids with wealthy parents.</p>
<p>mikemac: while your scenario doubtlessly happens (bias against certian economic strata applicants), I dispute that it’s the case across the board. My Ivy alma mater sometimes pushes beyond mediocre GC and teacher recs if they find compelling reasons to admit elsewhere in the file. Clearly they aren’t bothered by the lack of useful GC recs. </p>
<p>BTW: my alma mater is a need blind college – that probably plays into this too</p>