Letters of Recommendation

Little known fact (to me starting out last year):

Guidance counselors write recommendations for more than just colleges. We also write recommendations for National Merit Scholar nominees, military academy candidates, summer school hopefuls, semester-abroad programs, students looking to transfer out of our school, and more. That can be a lot of recommendations.

This year, I have roughly 50-60 seniors. I shouldn't complain: with a caseload that's about half the national average (500 students), I am privileged in my ability to know my students well. I need to constantly remind myself of this fact as I grudgingly dust off my creative writing hat and churn the butter, so to speak. I love this part of my job, as I enjoy creating a story - a snippet- about a student who I care about, to teach institutions how wonderful they are. I just wish it were spread out over the course of the entire school year, or at least more evenly distributed between early decision/action students (of which there is an ever increasing number) who require their materials by October/November, and regular decision/rolling students who require their materials by January/February.

First one to be done this week...wish me luck.