4. College Secondary School Report/School Counselor forms
Most private college applications include Secondary School Report/School Counselor forms for counselors to complete. You must fill out the top portion of this form for each school and give it to your counselor. Very carefully and neatly print your name, social security number, and all other required information on the forms. Don‘t forget to waive your right to see what the counselor writes.

5. Copies of your college applications and/or essays
Some private and public school counselors want to see students’ application essay answers. Other counselors, particularly at private schools, want to see students’ entire applications. Find out what your counselor wants in terms of applications and essays.

6. List of teachers and other people who are writing letters of recommendation for you
Some college counselors also want to know the names of teachers and other people who are writing letters of recommendation for you. It’s a simple thing to do, so do it.

7. Stamped, college-addressed envelopes
A few private schools and some public high schools now use online recommendation forms. Check to see what your school policy is. Many private and most public schools ask students to provide a stamped envelope addressed for every college to which a hard copy form or letter is sent. Also, don’t forget to put the counselor’s return address in the left hand corner of the envelope. Before you do that, find out what kind of envelope the counselor wants – a standard, small envelope or a larger, 8 1/2 x 11 one – and how much postage should be affixed.

8. Other information, stories and anecdotes for the counselor to use
Some counselors love having lots of information and materials from students. They say this helps them to do their job. On the other hand, other counselors totally resist offers of extra materials because they want their comments to be totally their own and authentic. You’re going to have to find out which kind of person your counselor is.

adMISSION POSSIBLE® TIP! Always affirmatively sign the waiver on the Secondary School Report or Teacher Evaluation forms that give away your right to see the evaluations written by the counselor. Colleges may be suspicious of students who do not do waive their rights.

Depending on what your counselor wants, here are some items that you might include in your recommendation packet: copies of letters applauding your work or accomplishments or awards for different activities, small portfolios of your art, music or writing, descriptions of special interests or projects in and outside of school (e.g., you have collected reptiles since the first grade, you’re a prize-winning cook, you help take care of a grandparent who has Alzheimer’s).

Recommendations come alive when writers integrate colorful stories or anecdotes about a student to illustrate a point. Ask your counselor if he/she would like to have some of these. See for examples of stories and anecdotes that have been used by students.

Optional for parents: Again, depending on a counselor’s preferences, you can provide a lot of useful information about your child, including a list of positive adjectives or adjective phrases that describe who your child is and his/her strengths, personal stories, obstacles or significant family events that have impacted you son or daughter, and interesting family background details.

9. Cover sheet identifying exactly what you have given the counselor
Not only is a cover sheet useful to let the counselor know what you have given him/her, it is also proof of your having provided the material.

10. Transcript request
A number of counselors assume responsibility for including a high school transcript in their school report package; however, most high schools require that you make separate transcript requests to the Registrar of the school. Find out what procedures you need to follow and associated fees, as well as how long it takes to get transcripts sent out.