<p>On the Common App. Midyear Report I notice there is an area for my daughter’s h.s. counselor to fill out. I would think putting in the new, higher GPA and rank would be simple…but what concerns me is how he’ll write an evaluation when he doesn’t even know her. They ask the g.c. what the first words that come to mind that best describes this student. They also want evaluations of her achievements, personality, etc. I seriously wonder how he will be able to do this without knowing more about her. I have no idea what he wrote on her initial counselor rec. nor does my daughter. It seems something like this can really make or break it for a Stanford applicant. Or am I overreacting? :)</p>
<p>This is the third guidance counselor she’s had since her freshman year. Actually, we were thrilled when we found out she would have the first g.c., but he found a job closer to his home right before school started. We knew him well and he was competent and easy to talk with. I wouldn’t even be writing here about this if he were still on board. </p>
<p>Her current g.c. is a nice enough guy and he started a club for at-risk students and is very involved with that. I commend what he’s doing, but in the meantime, some of us with kids who have been on a rigorous track all four years are wondering why he doesn’t seem to encourage conversation about more selective schools. When my husband and I met with him to talk about our daughter’s senior contract, I notice he was trying to push his alma mater, a nearby state school with higher admission rates. I have no problem with that, but you would think he would also be trying to guide her toward colleges that might be more challenging to get into. Hey, I’m realistic and know the low admission rates for schools like Stanford. But, on the other hand, she’s in the top 5% with decent ECs and certainly has been doing what it takes to stay there all four years. In that case, I feel her g.c. should be encouraging her to apply to more selective schools.</p>
<p>How do other applicants here handle situations where their g.c. hardly knows you and yet is expected to write a thorough evaluation of you and to think of words that best describe you? Because this is Stanford we’re talking about, it seems this would be a fairly imporant aspect of the application process.</p>
<p>Again, am I being overly concerned? My daughter is so tired of the whole college-app process that she doesn’t seem willing to talk about it. But then she’s not a talker, anyway. Sigh.</p>