How important is the parent questionnaire for your kid's HS counselor?

[Anonymous]

My kid attends a large suburban public (not DMV) and his counselor has just sent us a parent questionnaire to fill out. Yet another task that I did not know we'd have to do for college apps, sigh. He's a junior and we've only just begun to compile a preliminary list of colleges.

I suppose our answers for the questionnaire are to help her understand who he is for the rec letter since he's only met with her one-on-one a few times. Will what we relay to her play a significant part in the college app process?

Also, what are your thoughts about the first question asked: What is unique about your student?

How would you answer this? Could we say something about his family background (which is unique), or talk about personal attributes/characteristics, which really are not so unique. I mean, there are plenty of kids who are hard-working, self-motivated, auto-didacts (which are ways to accurately describe my kid and his work ethic.)

Finally, would the meeting be a time where we could ask her what her thoughts are about his college list? Are there any other important questions we should ask her that we may not think about?

Any suggestions, thoughts about this meeting for those who have already done it would be greatly appreciated -

[Anonymous]

Its very important tbh.

I'd search for old info here.

Join Sara H's Application Nation to get access to her "guides" or help filling it out.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Parent of kids who graduated from and one who is still at a large suburban high school in the DMV. I can't advise you on how to fill it out or the level of importance to the AO, but I can tell you from our experience the counselors don't spend much time with the kids. They have too large of caseload so they are looking for you to fill in the blanks.
Don't overthink it but do think about what you think would make your child thrive at the schools where they are applying.

[Anonymous]

It's very important in that your counselor likely doesn't know your kid well and you want to make their job easier.

Complete it like you are writing the recommendation for your kid. Write in complete sentences and paragraphs...not bullets.

You want to make it easy for the counselor to copy and paste from your answers.

[Anonymous]

It's important.

Almost every kid has parents who think their kids is smart and diligent.

Almost every kid has a 4.0.

You want to write anything you can think of that makes them unique. Maybe there isn't anything (the vast majority of kids don't have this). But if there is, this is your chance.

[Anonymous]

Thanks - helpful suggestions already.

I haven't seen this topic discussed here before, so will do a search and take a look at the suggested application nation. Also good to know about copy and paste.

[Anonymous]

Think of it as if you are writing the letter for them. It's very important.

[Anonymous]

My kid’s counselor’s requested such a form from parents and it took me by surprise- it was eight in-depth questions and it was clear parents were being asked to basically write the recommendation.
I was caught off guard when I sat down to look at it a few nights before it was due.
I’m fine with them looking for parents to help here. I get they don’t know the kids that well.

But I attended a Senior Parent Night in September run by the Counseling dept and no one gave a heads up to the roomful of parents (would have been a perfect time to mention this) with an explanation of what they needed parents to do. Rather it was all about how the process was the responsibility of the student and parents just needed to stand back and support.

I feel bad for the kids who sprung this on their parents last minute- and may not get it completed.

Final thing while I’m complaining- wish some me of these senior year tasks had been described to students/parents at the end of junior year. My kid wishes she had worked on her essay and looked at the common AP cover the summer.

[Anonymous]

^ OP here. I hear you. Neither my husband nor I have an understanding of how large suburban publics work (rural, non-resourced HS for me; he is from a European country) and this took us by surprise as well. It's due early next week, before my kid's meeting with her. Parents are allowed to attend via zoom only. The meeting is billed as "post-HS planning."

I did a search here as someone suggested and see that that this questionnaire should form the basis/talking points of the "narrative" for my kid's college apps. I also wonder if the guidance counselor will share this with teachers' LORs so that they match up?

Others say I should write it so that the counselor can copy and paste.

The email which included the questionnaire gave no reference to how it's going to be used by our school specifically. I think I will email her to clarify.

My kid is a junior though, not a senior - so at least we got the assignment a bit earlier than you did. Maybe we will also have time to modify it before applications are due. So much can change in a year.

GL everyone - and if anyone else has similar questions, there is some good info on past threads here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's very important in that your counselor likely doesn't know your kid well and you want to make their job easier.

Complete it like you are writing the recommendation for your kid. Write in complete sentences and paragraphs...not bullets.

You want to make it easy for the counselor to copy and paste from your answers.

Guess we're coming from a different perspective (even though we're also at a large, non-DMV public). DC1 (soon-to-be a collegiate junior because of all their DE credits) wanted no part of a stock counselor "rec" and wouldn't even give us the so-called brag sheet. They thought it'd be "canned," at best. To be fair though, DC also wasn't aiming super high, knew exactly what kind of merit to expect (there's a grid), and floated through the entire process. To the best of my knowledge, no counselor rec was ever put in the Common App portal and DC is happily ensconced at their top choice.

DC2 (now a junior in HS) will probably play it differently. Aspirations aren't much different but not willing to step that much out of the norm. I'll be happy to brag, in complete sentences, about our talented and truly dear child. But after reading these boards for a few years and our own very recent experience, I've much doubt that'll it'll make any difference. DC will likely get in (low bar and we're OK with that) and any chased merit will likely be solely determined by scores and grades.