high school guidance concilor

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dodo2

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I am asking this here because some of you might have experienced this while you were applying to college.

To my horror my parents discovered that my guidance conselor who sent in my college rec. knew very little about me and that he sent a standard ( diligent, quite, hard working etc. --- nothing that indicates I have a decent head on my shoulder) rec. to colleges.

I am sure that the colleges I am applying for (Ivy, little ivy etc.) will assume that I am a dumb jock and pass me over.

What can I do?:oops:

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Did this packet include other letters of recommendations? Your personal statement, EC's, class ranking, etc?

And yes, guidance counselors can really kiss my @$$.
 
I'm not trying to be rude, but I think you should know that people will be more likely to take your question seriously if would spell correctly.

However, it is a mistake to ask for a LOR from a person who doesn't know you well. Surely, if you are applying to Ivy League schools you would have a few AP teachers who know you well, and can attest to your ability to perform at the college level.

I spoke to a Dean of Admissions the other day who said that a bad LOR is enough to get your application thrown in the "Not Getting In" pile. You might want to find out if the schools you applied to will take additional letters. Also, you might want to think about applying to a few extra schools, especially if they don't require any LORs. (I know that some state schools don't.) It is quite possible that you'll get in despite a bad LOR, so good luck to you.
 
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Originally posted by MoCookiess
I'm not trying to be rude, but I think you should know that people will be more likely to take your question seriously if would spell correctly.

And people would take your advice more seriously if you had more than 22 posts :D . (teasing)
 
How did your parents find out?

Anyway, I avoided getting an LoR from my guidance councilor preciesly because he didn't know me very well. I got them from 2 of my AP teachers and my orchestra teacher if I remember correctly?
 
i did the same thing. i didn't go to my guidance counselor. she had no clue who i was, seeing as how i only went to her 4 times a year to transfer classes. i got LOR's from my french teacher, my history teacher, and i think my band teacher. i may have gotten one more, but i'm not sure. anyway, the point is, they all knew me, so they were able to write more than just my grades,
 
Originally posted by crazee8

(Most people I know at Harvard have national awards in something or at least state or regional awards in one of their extracurricular activities, be in debate, sports or math.)

Whatever! I got into Harvard (as well as Yale, Stanford and Princeton) and had NO national awards. Nor did my other 2 brothers and my sister for that matter.
 
I would suggest you ask a few people (teachers, coaches, places you volunteered if yoou did during highschool, etc...) you know to write some glowing stuff about you and have them send it in to the schools. That way you can be sure the letters you get are worth something.
 
Originally posted by dodo2
I am asking this here because some of you might have experienced this while you were applying to college.

To my horror my parents discovered that my guidance conselor who sent in my college rec. knew very little about me and that he sent a standard ( diligent, quite, hard working etc. --- nothing that indicates I have a decent head on my shoulder) rec. to colleges.

I am sure that the colleges I am applying for (Ivy, little ivy etc.) will assume that I am a dumb jock and pass me over.

What can I do?:oops:

Maybe you could add an extra letter? A couple of good ones and one mediocre one should be just fine. After all, he did say you're diligent, etc. and nothing negative. Besides I don't think schools expect counselors to know that much about the student anyway.
 
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