First of all, I am very sorry for saying the word “terrible” to my own counselor. But there’s no other word to express what he’s like–it’s really urgent and serious.
So first, my guidance counselor is new to my school. I’m in 12th grade right now, and he came to my school this semester! The former counselor left school… so the school had to hire a new counselor. That’s why he came to my school. So he and I have known each other for ONLY ONE MONTH.
Next, even though he was hired as a guidance counselor, he lacks skills-- like every skill needed for a counselor. He knows nothing about U.S. college admissions(I am an international student and go to an international high school) and can’t provide any materials for my class. When I tell him what kind of person I am, what I am interested in, what major I want to pursue, he doesn’t understand how rec letter and college admission system works and just try to do whatever he wants instead of showing who I am. He has never written a single rec letter before.
And even more serious-- he is really bad in English. He is 100% native Asian, and his English level is very low(he doesn’t know any powerful vocabularies, always makes grammatical and spelling errors,…) I really don’t think this counselor is able to tell the colleges who I am and what my personalities are.
Oh, and I’m applying to 7 colleges by Nov. 1, and he didn’t even write the first draft of my rec letter.
So… I really don’t know what I should do. I’m really panicking right now. So my questions are:
Is guidance counselor rec letter that important? How important is the rec letter? Can I get rejected from a college because of a terrible rec letter?
What should I do? I asked my school to change the counselor but the school said no.
Can I ask my counselor to submit a rec letter to a company which does grammar and vocab revision? What should I do to get the best rec letter as possible?
If I recall correctly, when my daughter applied to colleges a few years ago, the counselor submitted a school profile and transcripts via the Common Application somehow. The recommendations were written by teachers who she specifically asked and knew her better.
Speak to the director of guidance. But leave the value judgments out. Speak of what needs to be done and when the deadlines are. Having a list of them on paper would probably help.
Perhaps you should have your parents take it to the next level so that the school knows how serious it is, and it won’t be held against you if you misspeak. Also, give your GC explicit written instructions on what he needs to do and when, along with a copy of your resume and perhaps a “brag sheet lite” in which you or your parents discuss what you would like him to say and how he might describe you. I think that newbies on the job appreciate help, so you can take advantage of that by turning it into an opportunity.
I have a suggestion- talk to another counselor to see what the counselor recommendation usually looks like- then write your own recommendation from a guidance counselors POV and bring it to your counselor and say, this is what the colleges want to see from guidance counselors on behalf of student. My letters are due November 1, but you can use this as a template/rough guide to write my recommendation. Highlight the qualities that you would want highlighted in it since the counselor doesnt know you at all. Let’s face it, the more you help the counselor, the more he will be willing to help.
The above advice isn’t likely to go over well if we’re talking Asian international schools.
Getting the parents involved, who’d provide a brag sheet lite, is a better suggestion. @Yeollingirl12 : is your basic brag sheet done? If not can you complete it within 48h?
Are your teachers ready to write recommendations?
The guidance counselor section doesn’t require a recommendation. It requires a school profile (which the school would’d give your GC), your transcripts, if you were in trouble with the law, and a check list of qualities. For the check list of qualities the counselor should ask teachers and must indicate he had known you for one month only (there’s a question).
There are 2 sides to every story, and you have just presented the epitome of a story with a clear evidence of bias. A suggestion for the future wold be to eliminate the emotion and to avoid accusing someone of lacking something that it seems you yourself lack, based on this post and your other ones; as the English idiom states, that’s the pot calling the kettle black.
Now to your question:
You’re really asking if you can be rejected for a poorly written letter, not a terrible letter; the latter suggests that you are terrible. No, you will not be rejected for a less-than-perfectly-written LoR. Colleges are aware that not all GCs know all their students well. They also know that GCs are sometimes new. They know that many, especially outside of the US and other English-speaking countries, are not native English speakers. They AOs will not grade the LoRs for grammar and flowery vocabulary. Here is what one university has to say: https://mitadmissions.org/apply/parents-educators/writingrecs/
I will assume, as should you, that the GC knows the due dates and/or has a supervisor who will explain the elements of the job. You can let him know the dates, but please try to do so in a way that does not come across as mansplaining. What you can (and should) do, as mentioned above, is provided the GC with a CV that highlights areas that you deem important. Good luck.
@MYOS1634 I’ve already written my brag sheet and gave it to all of my teachers and the GC. All my teachers have written and submitted the rec letter via common app already. However, GC still doesn’t understand the system. Is the GC rec letter really optional? Then can I ask him to not write my letter and only submit my transcripts? Will it hurt my admission chances for colleges? Thanks!
@rofikicafe Okay… That’s a great advice… but the only problem is that there are three guidance counselors in my school and two(including my GC) are new. The other GC who has known me for the entire high school life told me that I cannot change my GC due to the school system…
Like others have already said before me, your GC DOESN’T write a letter of recommendation. Your teachers do. Your GC is responsible for submitting your high school profile and checking off the box that indicates what level of rigor the courses you took. Regardless of his English proficiency, I’m sure he understands the deadline.
The GCs form is checkboxes. You are panicking unnecessarily. (One of my kids got a new GC senior year, too). It made little difference.
Also, deadlines for the school materials are a bit soft at most colleges. Get YOUR pieces in on time — app with essays, app fee, and test scores. But many schools won’t be fussed if the school materials come in a week or two late. They can’t review everyone’s info the first day anyway.
So… calm down. Check in weekly on the progress of any components you are waiting for.
Find a checklist with the qualities and translate + indicate : The top one is top in career, the next one is top this year in school, etc… It’s better to have most checks in the last two categories and the other checks in the third column
@skieurope Okay thank you for the advice. But about the “bias” thing:
It’s October. Less than a month is left until the submission of the apps. The GC is totally new, never written any recs, doesn’t know US college admissions at all, doesn’t know me well, don’t listen to what I tell him, and is bad in English that may make him not able to fluently express what kind of person I am, and has more than ten other students to write rec for until Nov.1. Do you think he will be able to learn everything he has to know about US college admissions and rec system, understand the personality of me and other students which I have told him numerous times but never understands, suddenly have fluent English and write more than ten one-to-two-page rec letters in English…?
Also, there are factors I surely haven’t mentioned in CC because of personal information and stories. There are some other reasons and experiences I know for sure this counselor “lacks skills.” But you just decided that this is a biased story, and I should be lacking myself because of misjudging another person with emotion-- by seeing only one thread. Bias…?
I’m really worried about my situation, and I’m asking for help, not bragging that I hate my counselor. Please know that.
Actually, to be clear, for the Common App, the GC fills out the School Report, which is basically checkboxes and fill-in-the-blank, **and/b an LoR which asks:
• How long have you known the student, and in what context?
• What are the first words that come to mind to describe this student?
• Please provide comments that will help us differentiate this student from others. Feel free to attach an additional sheet or another reference you have prepared for this student. Alternatively, you may attach a reference written by another school official who can better describe the student.
Please check here if you will not be sending a letter of recommendation with this form
As mentioned upthread, the admissions sites for the colleges will detail what type of LoRs are required.
Thanks for the clarification. I thought of those LORs that the applicant has to request, and I haven’t come across any of those situations that either the applicant or the college asks the GC for one. Interesting.
My kids’ school GCs write recommendations for every kid, 900-1000 every year. They pull much from the parents brag sheet, as well as getting input from the home room adviser. They do not get feedback from teachers, many of whom are deluged with teacher LoR requests. This school is known for having very detailed, thoughtful GC recommendations. Some colleges even require a GC LoR
@TiggerDad I was not thinking of things that needed to be specifically requested, but rather what a college lists on the admissions site, which should link to the application. I don’t have visibility to the Common App from a GC perspective, so I can’t see what s/he sees. But as an example, Tufts, which is a school the OP mentions on another thread, Lists on its checklist: