Other People Who Might Complete The School Report Form
On a rare occasion, outstanding students or students with special circumstances ask high school principals, headmasters, vice-principals or upper school directors to complete their Secondary School/Counselor forms. This usually happens at smaller schools or when students get to know a school official through their activities on campus. It goes without saying that colleges are impressed when people of stature take the time to thoughtfully complete a student’s Secondary School report form.

adMISSION POSSIBLE® TIP! Because hand-written materials can be difficult to read, all information that goes to the counselor and teachers should be typed.

Helping The Counselor Do A Good Job For You
In fall of every school year, school counselors (particularly those in public high schools) are overwhelmed by all that they must do for seniors and other lower classmen. Therefore, one of your roles as a senior is to make the counselor’s job of helping you easy. You have nothing to lose by doing this and often a lot to gain.

LITTLE KNOWN FACT! Parents: Do not ignore the counselor request for information. Counselors are known to take some - if not a lot - of what parents write (sometimes word for word) and make it a part of their own letter or report.

ANOTHER LITTLE KNOWN FACT! Unless specified by a college, it is a total myth that a resume must be just one page.

What To Provide The School Counselor

1. High School Counseling Office Materials
Some high school counseling offices ask students and/or parents to fill out informational questionnaires during the summer or the first month of senior year. Some counselors even ask parents to write draft letters of recommendations for their sons and daughters.

As you complete the counselor’s questionnaire, try to differentiate yourself from the rest of the seniors in your class. Help the counselor explain who you are as a student and person and how you are unique and different.

2. An Up-To-Date Activities Resume
Nothing provides a counselor more information about who you are than an activities resume. Make sure that you provide one that is filled with detail and totally up-to-date.

3. Your College List Organized by Application Due Dates
It’s very important to provide your college counselor with an up-to-date college list, organized by the dates when college applications are due. Due dates are critical because in order for the colleges to process and evaluate your application, every piece of the application, including the counselor’s remarks, must arrive at the college on time. You need to make sure that your counselor meets those deadlines.

On your list, be sure to note if you are applying to any colleges early (action or decision) or to a college offering Rolling Admission.

Optional for students: One way of helping the counselor (and perhaps guiding what he/she says) is giving specific reasons why you are interested in each college on your list. Ask the counselor is he/she would like to have this information.