university admission officers use the counselor recommendation to learn more about the school
and the community of the student applying for admission,” says Shawn Abbott, assistant vice
president and dean of admissions at New York University. “It is helpful to learn about the
academic profile of one's senior class, testing averages, and the socioeconomic background of
the students attending and the town or city in which the school resides.”
Not all students come from the same environment with the same resources, so a counselor
recommendation letter may give admissions counselors that insight and put your achievements
in perspective based on your peers.
Moreover, letters of recommendations can let admissions counselors peek into your life. "They
can be really helpful in explaining grades that are anomalies or family situations that may have
adversely impacted a student,” says Jacqueline Murphy, director of admission of the
undergraduate program at Saint Michael’s College.
While you might not be able to explain a familial situation or environmental factor on your
transcript, your counselor has the opportunity to do so in his or her letter. In general, a
recommendation letter is another medium that allows your counselor to express your strengths
and advocate for you as a candidate.
How can these letters help or hurt your app?
Opinions vary when it comes to how relevant the counselor recommendation letter is. At large
schools, it’s likely that students and counselors don’t get much one-on-one time.
Avianne Tan, a senior at New York University, was in this situation. Because Avianne didn’t
have much contact with her counselor, she says, “During senior year we were required to give
in ‘senior brag sheets’ that listed all our accomplishments and other notable resume-esque items
just so that they could write letters of recommendation for us even without knowing us, really.”
While those who didn’t know their guidance counselors well probably view their
recommendation letters as useless, other collegiettes think differently about the topic. Haleigh
Kopinski, a senior at Point Park University, says that her guidance counselor wrote her a letter
of recommendation when she was applying for scholarships, which helped immensely. “There
were scholarships in my area I wasn't even eligible to receive due to location, GPA, things like
that,” she says. “[My guidance counselor] made me apply for these scholarships I wasn't eligible
for and would send recommendation letters to the boards on these scholarships for them to
consider my application. I got all of the scholarships he sent letters into.”
And while it makes sense that students who don’t know their counselors might think that their
letters don’t make much of a difference, admissions workers beg to differ. “At UT Austin, we use
a holistic review process,” says Laura Lavergne, assistant to the director for special projects and
communication at UT Austin’s Office of Admissions. “As a result, meaningful information that
comes to us through any submitted items – including recommendations – [has] the potential to
make a difference when we are reviewing applications.”
College applications are made up of multiple different elements, but that doesn’t mean that
they’re not all important. Everything you submit to colleges can influence their decisions about
your application!
How do you receive a good rec letter?
Avianne, who never had much contact with her guidance counselor, points out a good rule to
follow when it comes to recommendation letters. “I think it’s a great idea to go out of your way