Another service academy application question

[retiredHSmom]

I know that I can contact admissions with these questions but right now it feels like I have enough questions to look stupid.

 

Who do I have write the guidance counselor recommendation for my homeschooled student?

 

Extra-curricular activities are supposed to be verified by a guidance counselor or school official. Who does that?

 

This two are the most pressing at this moment.

 

 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

If you fill that role, you do the recommendation and verify the candidate activities record.

[AFwife Claire]

If you fill that role, you do the recommendation and verify the candidate activities record.

Yep, that's what I have done too.

[retiredHSmom]

Thank You for the answer. Can I just say "yuck"!

 

If you fill that role, you do the recommendation and verify the candidate activities record.

 

 

Yep, that's what I have done too.

Thanks for the answer. Can I just say "Yuck"!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Thank You for the answer. Can I just say "yuck"!

 

 

 

Why "Yuck?"  I realize that it is rather stressful, but you know what activities your kid did better than anyone else would.  In our case, we helped dss write their resumes by reminding them of various things they had done and forgotten about.  When they were filling the activities record out, there were frequent questions about what a question meant.  Verifying the record took about 90 seconds.

 

The counselor recommendation did take some thought, but again, there wasn't someone else in a position to write it.  We don't use a charter school or umbrella organization.  I kept it brief (one page or less) and stuck to answer the questions and using specific examples.

 

You will probably be wading through the counselor side of the Common Application and doing other counselor recs if they are required.  Once you have one written, it is less difficult to tailor it to specific situation you are completing at that moment.

[retiredHSmom]

Why "Yuck?"  I realize that it is rather stressful, but you know what activities your kid did better than anyone else would.  In our case, we helped dss write their resumes by reminding them of various things they had done and forgotten about.  When they were filling the activities record out, there were frequent questions about what a question meant.  Verifying the record took about 90 seconds.

 

The counselor recommendation did take some thought, but again, there wasn't someone else in a position to write it.  We don't use a charter school or umbrella organization.  I kept it brief (one page or less) and stuck to answer the questions and using specific examples.

 

You will probably be wading through the counselor side of the Common Application and doing other counselor recs if they are required.  Once you have one written, it is less difficult to tailor it to specific situation you are completing at that moment.

Okay, certifying the outside activities is not a big deal and yes, I am certainly the most qualified to do it (oh the miles and hours I have logged due to extra-curricular activities!)

 

The counselor letter is daunting.  Neither of my other students needed them and my son is not applying to any common app schools and I don't even know where to begin.  For one thing I cannot imagine a high school counselor knowing any thing at all about their students (I want to three different high schools, a public one, a private one and top-ranked public magnet school and I never even met my counselor more than once) so I cannot imagine how to even begin writing a letter that will not stick out like a sore thumb because I do actually know my son. 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Okay, certifying the outside activities is not a big deal and yes, I am certainly the most qualified to do it (oh the miles and hours I have logged due to extra-curricular activities!)

 

The counselor letter is daunting.  Neither of my other students needed them and my son is not applying to any common app schools and I don't even know where to begin.  For one thing I cannot imagine a high school counselor knowing any thing at all about their students (I want to three different high schools, a public one, a private one and top-ranked public magnet school and I never even met my counselor more than once) so I cannot imagine how to even begin writing a letter that will not stick out like a sore thumb because I do actually know my son. 

 

Caveat:  Neither of my sons were accepted to USNA.  Both received Navy ROTC scholarships.  

 

There are some really good threads about writing counselor recommendations.  I tried to show not tell.  Instead of saying they had certain qualities, I told a couple stories that illustrated those qualities.  I didn't disguise the fact that I was both the counselor and the parent.  

 

With DS1, I started with the following:

 

Name was homeschooled for high school. I have been his counselor as well as lead teacher; I am also his parent. 

 

My Common App counselor rec started with this paragraph:

 

Name has been homeschooled for high school.  As his parent, I taught or supervised his home-based high school classes.  For three years I also taught small, group classes in English and government in a homeschool cooperative group in State; Name was a member of these classes.  I have a B.S. in English (School) and an M.S. Ed (School).