what's more important? Guidance recommendations or teacher recommendations?

parkrunner · 12-01-2007, 10:25 PM

And why is it that?

what about if you go to a school where the guidance counselor barely sees you?

hebrewhammer · 12-01-2007, 11:48 PM

I would assume (and hope) it's teacher recs. I hardly ever see my guidance counselor.

bigreddawgie · 12-01-2007, 11:52 PM

teachers. usually counselors dont even kno the students

parkrunner · 12-03-2007, 12:14 AM

fsdfsdfdsfdsfd

wha??? but i read somewhere that guidance counselor recommendations were most important

frutiaspice · 12-03-2007, 12:21 AM

I'm thinking teacher recs as they actually see you in an academic setting and have day to day interactions with you.

fa-la-la-lena · 12-03-2007, 12:23 AM

counselor recs can help an applicant, but normally that is when explaining exceptional circumstances (i.e. death in the family), the reason why a students grades aren't up to par (teachers often cannot do that).

But for all intents and purposes, a teacher rec. would have to be more important when it comes to admissions

AmericanGraffiti · 12-03-2007, 12:30 AM

If the counselor knows you well and shows that in the recommendation, it can be just as important.

thehoo · 12-03-2007, 12:39 AM

I didn't even know my counselor until asking her to fill out some forms/recs. She was cool about it though.

T26E4 · 12-03-2007, 01:47 AM

A very important aspect that the GC can inform file readers is the relative strengths of the high school. They'll be candid about the caliber of classes available, the % of students who go to 4 yr pgms, the % of students who are eligible for free/reduced lunches. All of this is very important for the adcoms to understand the HS context, if they already don't have working relationship w/the HS.

Also, they know (more than your teachers who have only seen U in one or two classes) if your overall transcript represents a rigorous courseload or not.

My counselor didn't know me well either: yet I got into all schools applied, eventually matriculating at one of the HYP colleges.

Good luck folks.

parkrunner · 12-03-2007, 01:49 AM

wait

where do they put the % of students who get free lunches, and where do they put the % of students who move on to 4 year programs?

like.... where on the application do they put it? it doesn't seem to be a place on the common app for them to put it.

amb3r · 12-03-2007, 02:08 AM

I really, really hope it's teacher recs. I actually have great relationships with my teachers. My GC and I.. well first of all, I hardly know her. o_o I can't imagine her saying much good about me besides "amb3r is a good student." and maybe listing my awards or something... ugh.

I think for huge schools, colleges care more about teacher recs. They realize that teachers understand students way better than counselors do when each counselor only sees the student like twice a year..

MD_Mom · 12-03-2007, 09:12 AM

Parkrunner,
Sometimes schools include a "school profile" with the transcript that includes the kind of info you mention. This link might interest you.
High School Profiles - Ask The Dean Your GC can tell you what school information goes out with to your transcript.

Nickel Xenon · 12-03-2007, 09:30 AM

Teacher recs. Some public schools are huge and counselors don't even know a quarter of the kids.

bretjohnson90 · 12-03-2007, 09:40 AM

my counselor gave me glowing reviews- and she's known me for 15 years. my teacher recs are the same- and he's known me for 17... so the admissions counselor won't think it's weird that i got really high marks?

quaere · 12-03-2007, 10:01 AM

In my school's case, in addition to the teachers we're getting full letters from, we have to ask three other teachers to write a paragraph and submit them to our GCs. So the counselor recs are based in large part on teacher recs.