How to get a good counselor recommendation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey, 20:53, you sound awesome. Thanks for everything you do!

Ditto!!!

Hope good karma flows your way!

[Anonymous]

Why do colleges even ask for this if the information is largely generated by parents? What a waste of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do colleges even ask for this if the information is largely generated by parents? What a waste of time.

My guess is that private schools see it as (yet another) huge advantage and have advocated for its continued inclusion. Private school counselors know individual kids and have time to write personal recommendations; it’s what the parents are paying for!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do colleges even ask for this if the information is largely generated by parents? What a waste of time.

My guess is that private schools see it as (yet another) huge advantage and have advocated for its continued inclusion. Private school counselors know individual kids and have time to write personal recommendations; it’s what the parents are paying for!

So the actual stuff I’m supposed to include is all about the context of the school and academics. So for example, course selection and rigor, how the student’s curriculum compares to others. The other thing it usually defaults to me to include is personal circumstances over the years that an individual teacher may not know.

I will also say that many colleges read by school and know the school, so a brief counselor letter from a public school counselor does not harm a student’s app. Yes, it doesn’t add another layer the way a good rec would, but consider substituting with an additional LoR from a coach, employer, summer school mentor, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was wondering about personal qualities.

we don't have a parent brag sheet, but I encouraged ds to put things on there that weren't academic: pulled out of X tournament so lower ranked senior could attend one last time, stood up for x kid when this one thing happened, helped younger brother navigate waters and new big HS etc etc.

DS thought this was all OTT of course but I wonder if it's appropriate

I think this is wonderful, and I hope your son lands somewhere great. If I were the counselor, I'd use this stuff!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do colleges even ask for this if the information is largely generated by parents? What a waste of time.

Because ultimately the counselor with either endorse it or slightly undermine it. Their recs come with added thoughts on the student that are not shown to either the parents or the kid.

[Anonymous]

Question for counselor:

Will you start a new AMA post? Would love to hear your thoughts!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Question for counselor:

Will you start a new AMA post? Would love to hear your thoughts!!

Yes please...esp if you are still on here. We want to ask you questions about this year, this process and your predictions for RD!!

[Anonymous]

My kids' public school counselor told us to write the brag sheets but also if there's something super specific we want focused on - WRITE IT OURSELVES and he will put it into his own words. Yay. Going for that option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Counselor here. Please give specifics in brag sheet I can lift into letter. Proud of taking honors class X because it isn’t their top subject? Great. Did X and Y in summer program? Awesome.

In outside sports? Tell me exactly how many hours and how often, and what position they play/how good they are (I know nothing about sports).

Tell me major and why/what experiences led to this. (I can look it up maybe? Not always accurate and obvious to know that kid is applying for a Y major depending on system.)

If they work, I want hours, place, if it’s supporting family, duties. Same for clubs. I want details, things they’re proud of, things they overcame… things I can literally reword into my own words but that I don’t need to ask follow-up questions about (when was X? How was Y hard for you? What was inspiring about Z?)

If something happened- COVID, death in family, etc- tell me when it happened and how it affected them, and the meaning of the relationship.

Difficulty with class selection or academics they want me to highlight (teacher X was absent most of first semester junior year, had hoped to take Y AP but schedule conflict)

The best letters are ones where I can sit down with the brag sheet, open up the transcript/current class schedule to review for rigor, and write from that. It is not hard for me to pull up teacher recs, but I often beat the teachers. I can sometimes pull up their app itself (if they have enabled Common App preview status and added me as an advisor and not just a counselor). Otherwise, all I can see is what schools they applied to- not into major.

Resumes are helpful but often don’t tell me HOW a student felt about it. I find the adjectives for how a student describes themselves or how a teacher might describe them helpful to set a tone.

Hi counselor. The admissions officers will see all of this information on the students application. So while I know it helps give you context, please don’t reiterate information the AO’s already can get elsewhere on the app. Instead, please share stories and anecdotes about your students that illustrate positive personal qualities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Counselor here. Please give specifics in brag sheet I can lift into letter. Proud of taking honors class X because it isn’t their top subject? Great. Did X and Y in summer program? Awesome.

In outside sports? Tell me exactly how many hours and how often, and what position they play/how good they are (I know nothing about sports).

Tell me major and why/what experiences led to this. (I can look it up maybe? Not always accurate and obvious to know that kid is applying for a Y major depending on system.)

If they work, I want hours, place, if it’s supporting family, duties. Same for clubs. I want details, things they’re proud of, things they overcame… things I can literally reword into my own words but that I don’t need to ask follow-up questions about (when was X? How was Y hard for you? What was inspiring about Z?)

If something happened- COVID, death in family, etc- tell me when it happened and how it affected them, and the meaning of the relationship.

Difficulty with class selection or academics they want me to highlight (teacher X was absent most of first semester junior year, had hoped to take Y AP but schedule conflict)

The best letters are ones where I can sit down with the brag sheet, open up the transcript/current class schedule to review for rigor, and write from that. It is not hard for me to pull up teacher recs, but I often beat the teachers. I can sometimes pull up their app itself (if they have enabled Common App preview status and added me as an advisor and not just a counselor). Otherwise, all I can see is what schools they applied to- not into major.

Resumes are helpful but often don’t tell me HOW a student felt about it. I find the adjectives for how a student describes themselves or how a teacher might describe them helpful to set a tone.

Hi counselor. The admissions officers will see all of this information on the students application. So while I know it helps give you context, please don’t reiterate information the AO’s already can get elsewhere on the app. Instead, please share stories and anecdotes about your students that illustrate positive personal qualities.

Sometimes they want verification; more context; background….

[Anonymous]

How about your kid actually takes time to get to know the counselor. That is what my kid did. Drop in to say hi. Chat for a bit about life. Try it. It works if they can actually get to know you. The student has to make the effort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about your kid actually takes time to get to know the counselor. That is what my kid did. Drop in to say hi. Chat for a bit about life. Try it. It works if they can actually get to know you. The student has to make the effort.

did your kid graduate high school in the 1980s?

My kid has about 300 kids per grade she counsels. That's 1200 kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about your kid actually takes time to get to know the counselor. That is what my kid did. Drop in to say hi. Chat for a bit about life. Try it. It works if they can actually get to know you. The student has to make the effort.

My MCPS kid has a good counselor who’s been extremely helpful with practical matters, but she’s too overloaded to chat about life with every kid who pops in. Her schedule is booked solid, no drop-ins allowed unless it’s an emergency.

[Anonymous]

Omg we did NOT get a brag sheet, I have no idea what the counselor wrote. She’s not very involved and she’s young and seems inexperienced.

But my kid has gotten into all of her safeties and a target. We will see what happens in the RD round.