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And in conclusion.... (counselor's letter)


JanetC
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Mine closed with a paragraph addressing briefly why we graduate her a year early and that she ready for college beacuse of...

 

I closed with:

"She is looking forward to attending a university where she is intellectually challenged, surrounded by a community of learners, and able to grow as a personality. I am confident that DD will be a great asset to any university."

 

 

If your DC is using the Common App, don't mention the school name.

Oh, and begin with " it is my great pleasure..."

 

ETA: When I am writing recommendation letters in my professional capability, I always end with a sentence that says something along the lines  that I am confident the applicant will make a great contribution to the organization he is applying for - be that a company, a research program, or a grad school

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I mailed letters (and other documentation) to each of the colleges to which my daughter applied.

 

The counselor letter I wrote ended with this paragraph:

 

 

"G is ready and eager to move on to new challenges; she is mature, capable, and well equipped for a more rigorous and stimulating environment. Given her mastery of academic work at both the high school and early college level as reflected by her various test scores and transcript, I am confident that G will thrive at XXXX.

 

Sincerely yours,"

 

Regards,

Kareni

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G is ready and eager to move on to new challenges; she is mature, capable, and well equipped for a more rigorous and stimulating environment. Given her mastery of academic work at both the high school and early college level as reflected by her various test scores and transcript, I am confident that G will thrive at XXXX.

 

Mine looked suspiciously like Kareni's.  :cool:

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Do you guys mention the fact that you are the parent or related to the student in the letter?  I have this urge to emphasize that I would recommend my guy even if I wasn't related to him (he's every college prof's dream of an engaged, enthusiastic student!), but part of me wonders if that would bring too much unwanted attention to the fact that I am his mother and not enough to the fact that I have taught hundreds and hundreds of kids through the years that I am comparing him to.

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part of me wonders if that would bring too much unwanted attention to the fact that I am his mother and not enough to the fact that I have taught hundreds and hundreds of kids through the years that I am comparing him to.

I think your instincts are good here, It's obvious you're the mom. I'd emphasize the taught hundreds, years of experience aspect only.
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Do you guys mention the fact that you are the parent or related to the student in the letter?  I have this urge to emphasize that I would recommend my guy even if I wasn't related to him (he's every college prof's dream of an engaged, enthusiastic student!), but part of me wonders if that would bring too much unwanted attention to the fact that I am his mother and not enough to the fact that I have taught hundreds and hundreds of kids through the years that I am comparing him to.

 

No. I do not mention anything in the counselor letter.

It is obvious from seeing my name as recommender that the letter is written by a parent, but I wrote the letter in exactly the same tone that I would use for a student not related to me.

So, the letter all by itself gives no indication that the student is my child.

 

ETA: I also do not think it necessary. I am not giving a performance review - test scores and college class grades speak for themselves.

I am describing my student and giving a better picture of her personality, character, what makes her tick. That I have experience with hundreds of students (since I'm a professor) is completely irrelevant for THIS letter. I am not evaluating her academic preparedness, I am painting a picture of an individual.

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No. I do not mention anything in the counselor letter.

It is obvious from seeing my name as recommender that the letter is written by a parent, but I wrote the letter in exactly the same tone that I would use for a student not related to me.

So, the letter all by itself gives no indication that the student is my child.

 

ETA: I also do not think it necessary. I am not giving a performance review - test scores and college class grades speak for themselves.

I am describing my student and giving a better picture of her personality, character, what makes her tick. That I have experience with hundreds of students (since I'm a professor) is completely irrelevant for THIS letter. I am not evaluating her academic preparedness, I am painting a picture of an individual.

 

Good point in your afterthought...I think some of the things I'm trying to get across are very academic focused, so I'm struggling with coming from the right place.

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Do you guys mention the fact that you are the parent or related to the student in the letter?  I have this urge to emphasize that I would recommend my guy even if I wasn't related to him (he's every college prof's dream of an engaged, enthusiastic student!), but part of me wonders if that would bring too much unwanted attention to the fact that I am his mother and not enough to the fact that I have taught hundreds and hundreds of kids through the years that I am comparing him to.

 

I did in my first sentence.  Since I thought it was apparent (ooh, a pun!) that I was her parent, I saw no need to either emphasize it or ignore it.  I just wrote what felt right.  In your case, I would certainly mention how he compares with the many others you've taught.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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I've started stringing together a counselor's letter using ideas from the link I posted in the common app thread

(http://hscw-counselorscorner.blogspot.com/2015/09/a-quick-refresher-on-counselor-letters.html). But, I'm stuck on the ending!

 

I opened with "It is my pleasure to recommend DD...."

 

How do I close?

In conclusion and for the numerous reasons stated, I unreservedly and wholeheartedly endorse (name) as a potential candidate for (name of school) and believe (name) will be a fine asset to your university. 

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I mailed letters (and other documentation) to each of the colleges to which my daughter applied.

 

The counselor letter I wrote ended with this paragraph:

 

 

"G is ready and eager to move on to new challenges; she is mature, capable, and well equipped for a more rigorous and stimulating environment. Given her mastery of academic work at both the high school and early college level as reflected by her various test scores and transcript, I am confident that G will thrive at XXXX.

 

Sincerely yours,"

 

Regards,

Kareni

 

One last question...I am getting close to finished :hurray:

 

The counselor letter and LORs on the Common App go to every college, right?  Can I address the college directly in the letter like the conclusion above or do I have to keep it generic?

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One last question...I am getting close to finished :hurray:

 

The counselor letter and LORs on the Common App go to every college, right? Can I address the college directly in the letter like the conclusion above or do I have to keep it generic?

You have some control over this: some schools have a school app separate from the common one, so you can write a custom letter for just that school if you use the separate app. You could also send a second letter to a Common App school outside the app if there is something you really want to say to the one school but not another.

 

I have two generic letters, one for the Common App and one for the app used by DDs two state schools. This worked well because the Common App ones are all small LACs, so discussing generally why she'd fit well at a LAC works for all of them. It's really only a couple sentences that I take out for her in-state options.

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One last question...I am getting close to finished :hurray:

 

The counselor letter and LORs on the Common App go to every college, right?  Can I address the college directly in the letter like the conclusion above or do I have to keep it generic?

 

I believe that LORs from different recommenders can be assigned to various colleges.  So, for example, letters from Teachers A, B, and C might go to colleges 1, 2, and 3 while letters A and C could go to colleges 4 and 5.

 

I believe that the counselor letter goes to each college on the student's list if they are applying with the Common App.  By mailing my daughter's documentation to each college, I was able to send personalized counselor letters.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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  • 4 weeks later...

Do you guys mention the fact that you are the parent or related to the student in the letter?  I have this urge to emphasize that I would recommend my guy even if I wasn't related to him (he's every college prof's dream of an engaged, enthusiastic student!), but part of me wonders if that would bring too much unwanted attention to the fact that I am his mother and not enough to the fact that I have taught hundreds and hundreds of kids through the years that I am comparing him to.

 

 

No. I do not mention anything in the counselor letter.

It is obvious from seeing my name as recommender that the letter is written by a parent, but I wrote the letter in exactly the same tone that I would use for a student not related to me.

So, the letter all by itself gives no indication that the student is my child.

 

ETA: I also do not think it necessary. I am not giving a performance review - test scores and college class grades speak for themselves.

I am describing my student and giving a better picture of her personality, character, what makes her tick. That I have experience with hundreds of students (since I'm a professor) is completely irrelevant for THIS letter. I am not evaluating her academic preparedness, I am painting a picture of an individual.

 

Writing does not come naturally to me, so I've asked my husband to draft our counselor letter.  I have suggested that he try to keep personal family references out of the letter, but he noted that if a school counselor truly knew the student, they would relate personal interactions/experiences with the student.

 

So, my husband would like to add a statement about how our son has made such a positive impact on our family...encouraging all of us to expand our educational horizons...For example, my husband read some classic literature because our son was enjoying it so much, all of us are much more aware of current events, etc.  

 

Should we try to squeeze this information in somewhere else such as in our homeschool philosophy, or is it okay for it to be included in the counselor letter to highlight by example some of our son's attributes?

 

Thanks :)

Kathy

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Writing does not come naturally to me, so I've asked my husband to draft our counselor letter.  I have suggested that he try to keep personal family references out of the letter, but he noted that if a school counselor truly knew the student, they would relate personal interactions/experiences with the student.

 

So, my husband would like to add a statement about how our son has made such a positive impact on our family...encouraging all of us to expand our educational horizons...For example, my husband read some classic literature because our son was enjoying it so much, all of us are much more aware of current events, etc.  

 

Should we try to squeeze this information in somewhere else such as in our homeschool philosophy, or is it okay for it to be included in the counselor letter to highlight by example some of our son's attributes?

 

Thanks :)

Kathy

 

I tried to think of all the different pieces of information the school would have.  Homeschool philosophy, educational partners and our frequent moves were mostly covered in the school profile that I uploaded with transcripts.  I was quite specific in the school profile that I was describing a homeschool (albeit, one that also had a name, because we'd registered as a private school while in California).

 

For the counselor recommendation, I led with my credentials and the fact that I've supervised the student over 12 years of homeschooling.  I tried to keep my comments tied to specific examples that I presented (for example, how he ended up as an assistant swim coach "intern" ).  

 

I figured that even though a school might discount some of what I said, because I was the parent; there was a distinct possibility they would discount it much more if they determined that I was the parent, but I hadn't been up front about it.  

 

I did include my degrees and the fact that I'd taught for three years in a homeschool coop so had some context.

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... is it okay for it to be included in the counselor letter to highlight by example some of our son's attributes?

 

 

 

I think it sounds lovely to write about how your ds's enthusiasm and encouragement has impacted the rest of the family.  It's a quality that a school would appreciate in a student.

 

 

I agree with Sue.  I think it's important though to couch it in terms of what your son has done (his actions/his character traits).

 

Regards,

Kareni

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I believe there is a check box somewhere in the counselor section of common app that you must check to acknowledge that you agree that all of your information is general and not tailored to the requirements of any one college.  If you wish to tailor info I think I would submit it directly to the school not through Common App.

 

 

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