Guidance Counselor Recommendations

As your guidance counselors sit down to write their recommendations on your behalf, we’d like to give you a word or two of advice. Thank them. You shouldn’t think of it as their job to write you a letter of recommendation. Is it? Yes. But don’t think like that because you’ll only dig yourself into a hole. You need to thank your guidance counselor profusely for writing a letter of recommendation about you. Not only because it will help your chances for admission to highly selective colleges, but it’s the right thing to do.

Tammy Taylor (played by Connie Britton) on "Friday Night Lights" always had her students' backs. Your guidance counselor likely has your back, too. Make sure you thank him/her. It will only help your chances for admission. It's also the right thing to do.

Guidance counselor recommendations take quite a bit of time to write. Good guidance counselors don’t just cut and paste form letters, changing a word here or a word there. Rather, they find out what you’re like inside a classroom from teachers. They sit down and get to know you. They get to know your parents. They even know what you like to do outside of school.

Guidance counselors have tremendous power in the college admissions process and we highly recommend that you try to develop a strong relationship with your guidance counselor. There are few things as important in the highly competitive college admissions process. It’s your guidance counselor who is going to be in position to lobby on your behalf if you’re deferred or put on a waitlist. It’s the guidance counselor who is going to tip you off that one teacher may not write the best college letters of recommendation (always listen to this subtle advice)! We know firsthand. Our founder, Bev Taylor, was a high school guidance counselor for many years.

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