<p>So I’m from the Canadian province of Quebec and I’m currently attending CEGEP (the post-high school, pre-university school here). My CEGEP has about 9,000 students and typically no one goes to see a guidance counselor unless he/she doesn’t know what career he/she’d like to pursue (the college application process doesn’t require the assistance of a counselor here). I have never met one of my school’s ‘‘official’’ guidance counselors. </p>
<p>However, the coordinator of the IB program at my school knows me very well. I meet him about twice a month to ask him questions about classes I’d like to take, colleges I’d like to attend, people I have to meet, recommendations I need… Really, he’s the one every IB students meets when he/she has a question. And he knows better than any counselor what my grades are worth and how I do in class, as he has weekly meetings with my teachers. </p>
<p>Can he be considered as my counselor? Is it okay if he writes my GC rec?</p>
<p>Well… ask your official guidance counselor to see if that would be possible. It may be slightly irregular, because then every other person with a favorite administrator would substitute their counselors.</p>
<p>Yeahh I see what you mean. I’ll have to find an official guidance counselor because I don’t have any aha. The thing is that they are so many counselors at my school who can help you in different ways, I don’t even know who’s job it could be to help me ahha.</p>
<p>For example the guidance counselor is there to help you with your career choice. The API is there to make sure you get enough credits and stuff to get your diploma. The Study counselor is there to talk about what university program you should choose if you want to be a musician, a dentist… Which one do you think I should meet? I don’t exactly know what’s the job of counselors in the US, besides writing recs.</p>
<p>I think it is an appropriate idea. The purpose of the counselor recommendation is so 1) colleges can get a sense of the high school’s program and grading system and 2) so they can get a sense of where you fit into said program. The GC will typically provide the college with a school profile (in the US, this is a form the H.S. usually has already prepared) which describes the school’s course offerings and grading system. The GC will also comment on how you function as a student within said program. Have you taken the most rigorous classes? How do your grades reflect your achievement? How does the school determine GPA and rank? </p>
<p>(for example, student has taken most challenging Math course available, but we do not offer APs. Or, student wanted to take AP Calculus, but was closed out of class.)
(for example, our school does not rank but student would be in top 5%. Or, our school ranks using unweighted GPAs). </p>
<p>The GC can also comment on any extenuating circumstances that might affect your performance. (student moved, student’s parents divorced, student has disability but has worked hard to overcome it, etc…)</p>
<p>I think you should speak with your school’s official GC to determine if he/she normally fulfills this role. Bring a copy of the common app GC form to show your GC. A GC who does not know you can still supply much of the above information except perhaps comments on extenuating circumstances. Let the official GC determine if he/she can provide the requested info. If you think your school’s IB co-ordinator can add more useful information, then you might want a rec from that person as well.</p>