How to get a counselor recommendation?

mikemac
Sat, 14 Jan 2017 00:26:34 +0000

Colleges realize some counselors don’t know their students very well and don’t put too much on the recommendation from them

Unfortunately not always true. The counselor rec provides the opportunity for colleges to select kids from more affluent backgrounds while appearing neutral, if they so prefer.

At private schools and publics in pricy neighborhoods the counselors do make an effort to know all the kids. At most of the rest the counselors are so busy dealing with kids who are flunking, behavioral problems, etc. that a good student is seen as a godsend, one who doesn’t take up their time. The counselors let them be. So a college that wants to can use this to filter kids by financial status while outwardly talking about how “fair” they are. It isn’t fair, I don’t think it’s right, but you ought to know that it happens.

The excerpt below was in the US News college issue a few years back (and, no doubt coincidentally, that former college says it practices need-blind admissions)

[quote]

I attend a large public school where my counselor doesn’t know me well. Will I be at a disadvantage because this person couldn’t possibly write anything insightful about me?*

Gary Ripple, now director of admissions at Pennsylvania's Lafayette College, was asked this question when he was admissions dean at Virginia's College of William and Mary. He said to the student questioner: "I wonder why your counselor doesn't know you. Your counselor probably has over 300 students he or she is responsible for. You should take the initiative to get to know your counselor. At William and Mary, we look for students who take charge of their lives." The student sank slowly into his seat, Ripple recalls.