Many students ask high school guidance counselors for such a recommendation.
To answer some of these questions, a colleague of mine, Kate Walton, asked both admissions and secondary guidance professional for their perspectives. Carbone looks for information in the letter of recommendation that speaks to competence, promptness and overall character. High school guidance counselor Joanne Brogis, PhD, from Torrington High School sees letters of recommendation as extremely important, in order to describe what makes each student different, scholastically as well as personally. Neal Culhane, guidance counselor at Lewis Mills High School in Burlington, noted that small colleges rely more heavily on the content of letters than large colleges do. Smaller colleges are looking at an applicant's character, motivation and personality, in addition to academic abilities, to determine if the student meets their school's profile.