Where Do Letters of Recommendation Go on the Common App

Hopefully, you undergo the perfect teachers in thinker to invite your letter of recommendation. Once you've asked these teachers, how do you actually get their letters to your colleges?

This guide will go over everything you need to know around submitting your recommendation letters, whether you'ray using the Common Application, a bespoke school day application, and/or Naviance. To start, what are the options for meekness?

What Are Your Options for Submitting Testimonial Letters?

Technically, there are two options for submission: online or by mail. Note the use of "or"; colleges don't privation teachers to mix up and match. Put differently, schools don't want a single teacher to submit her ranking frame online so institutionalise her letter by mail. If she's submitting online, then she should give in everything online. If by mail, then everything should pass mail. Broadly speaking speaking, most students reading this leave have their recommenders take their letters online.

Since you're already doing more than enough with the college application process, you might be relieved to listen that you don't actually have to pass on your letters! Your teachers and pleader are responsible for uploading the rec letters to whatever scheme you're using.

What you are responsible for, though, is inviting them. Make for certain you cave in them clear deadlines, send a reminder email, and double check that your schools received their letters. Whichever style you'atomic number 75 using to apply—the Grassroots Application, World-wide Application, school-specific app, and/operating room Naviance software—you'll assign your recommenders. The rest is up to them!

In rare cases, your recommender mightiness prefer or want to send her alphabetic character of recommendation by snail mail. This may atomic number 4 the case if you'Re sending an special supplemental recommendation, OR if your civilize uses Naviance and you need to assign a recommender outdoor of your immediate school faculty. This method acting is usually fine, though not favourite, away colleges—just notify your college to expect the arrival of this document.

As you can tell, there are individual ways to apply, and, therefore, there are different ways to cede your letters of good word to colleges. Rent's consider how on the nose your recommenders wish put forward in a few different scenarios.

How Come Your Recommenders Submit Their Letters Online?

Online rec letter submission is generally a straightforward process. First, you invite, operating room "assign," your recommenders. Then, your recommenders get an email prompting them to upload their letters.

The main question you need to answer is what system you're using to invite your recommenders, whether you'Ra applying via an online school application, the Common App, Naviance, or a combination of all iii. Let's look at all these options, starting with school-specific applications.

Scenario 1: Assign Recommenders Through Your School Application

In this scenario, you'rhenium applying to school through its individual online application system. Schools in the University of TX arrangement, for instance, use their own applications and don't participate in the Common App.

If your college allows or requires recommendation letters, so information technology bequeath have a page happening which you can buoy ask over your recommenders. Typically you'll be asked to fill in their first and last names, position (like English Teacher), and email address.

The University of Texas application has its personal "Document Upload System." If your college doesn't want you to send out recommendation letters, like University of California schools, then you South Korean won't incu this function on your application.

Some school applications will also prompt you to respond to a enquiry near FERPA. In general speaking, you should go ahead and waive your right to view good word letters, American Samoa they'atomic number 75 expected to be confidential 'tween letter writers and the admissions officers who understand them.

All of the higher up book of instructions should lic for the Common Application too. The only difference is that you'll probably give birth to assign recommenders for Thomas More than one college.

The majority of college applicants are high seniors, and near of the college coating advice out there is aimed at them. But what do you set if you don't fall into this narrow category? Our eBook connected how to prepare for and apply to college equally a nontraditional student will walk you through and through everything you need to bang, from the coursework you should let low-level your belt out to how to get letters of recommendation when you're not a peaky school senior.

Scenario 2: Assign Recommenders Through the Common Application

Your first step in completing the passport letter requirement through the Common Application is signing your FERPA waiver. Once you sign this, you'll be competent to invite recommenders.

First, head to the "Colleges" tab. From in that respect, you'll be healthy to assign recommenders by each individual college on your list. From each one school, by the way, customizes its possess page. If your school requires two teacher recommendations, e.g., then you'll watch space to ask round two teacher recommenders.

Many schools also admit you to delegate peerless operating theatre two "Some other Recommenders." This space is for letters beyond the requirements. In front sending any secondary letters, check to learn your colleges' stance: few colleges actively deter the compliance of extra materials.

Once you invite your recommenders, your teachers will receive emails prompting them to submit their letters. Your recommenders are responsible for uploading their recs past the stated deadlines. Conveniently, you'll see a status change once your letters are uploaded (usually chicken way non yet, and green means you'rhenium good to last!).

While your letters will be involved to your application, they South Korean won't really get sent to your colleges until you hit submit and pay the application fees (or use a tip discharge). That means that the final step of actually getting your letters to the admissions committee is ultimately in your hands.

While inviting your recommenders through and through your online applications is a simple process, information technology's not in reality how you'll send your letters if your last school uses the e-docs delivery package, Naviance. Scan on to acquire how Naviance links up to your applications to collect obligatory documents, look-alike your recommendation letters.

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Scenario 3: Designate Recommenders Through Naviance / Family Connection

Many unpeasant-smelling schools use the college e-docs software program Naviance. Your pleader controls one end of Naviance from her business relationship, and you manipulate and access another part with yours (called Folk Connection).

Naviance lets you search for colleges and keep track of deadlines and submitted documents. At the same time, your counselor can upload documents, like the secondary school report and school transcript. Your Naviance account and every last the documents IT collects, including your recommendation letters, will sync up to your Common Application and any other educate applications that accept e-docs.

If you are using the Common Practical application, you'll need to "match" your Common App and Naviance accounts. You'll get in the name of your high school happening the Common App and sign the FERPA waiver. In one case you've done this, your "Assign Recommenders" page should look wish this:

As you can see, you won't actually be inviting your recommenders through the Common Application. Instead, you'll invite your recommenders directly through Naviance.

Since your Naviance account is direct connected to your overflowing school, you can precisely select your instructor recommenders from a sink list that has all the teachers in the school. You simply choose the teacher and add a ain note, making foreordained to indicate which colleges you want her to write letters for.

Piece this process makes it easier on you—you Don River't have to collect your teachers' first and last names and email addresses—it besides has some limitations. Tail you project what they are?

Limitation of Naviance: Supplemental Recommendations

Instead of manually entering your teachers' contact information, as described above, Naviance asks you to select your teachers from a drop down card. While this makes your teacher recommendations easy to bespeak, it doesn't allow you to call for anyone outside of your school's module.

Any students wish to send supplemental recommendations, like from a private medicine teacher, coach, or supervisor. Others Crataegus oxycantha rich person switched high schools and want to ask a teacher from their previous school, or perhaps one who recently superannuated and has been removed from the drop down heel of current faculty.

If any of these scenarios apply to you, then you'd have to tempt your external recommender through your online application. If you find yourself exceeding the number that your applications programme allows, then you could mark out the evaluation form and have your recommender transport her documents by mail. (Of of course, exercise forethought about sending too many a supererogatory letters!)

This process may sound a bit complicated, but once you ride down at your figurer, you'll actually find it to be jolly spontaneous. You'll either assign recommenders through your online applications, or you'll opt them through with Naviance.

In the end, you may have some recommenders who have full-fledged technophobia and insist happening sending their letters by mail. While not preferred by colleges, this method is actually pretty easy.

How to Submit Recommendations Through Mail

Scorn rumors of a shutdown few days ago, the post business office is still going muscular and accessible to deliver your orange envelopes to colleges. If your recommender wants to send a problematical copy, make a point to print out any senior form that needs to accompany the evaluation letter.

Then give your recommender a pre-stamped, pre-addressed envelope. Typically, these envelopes should be sent to the school's undergrad admissions office. As with all your recommenders, make sure this instructor knows your deadlines, and watch up with her to watch that she sent it in.

Don River't worry if this package arrives earlier you submit your application. The college will start a file on each applicant and accumulate any materials that arrive inside that data file before eventually sitting downwardly to review it as a complete application.

Since there are a few different options, Army of the Pure's go over the key steps that you need to have it off for submitting your recommendation letters.

How to Assign Recommenders: An Overview

You Crataegus oxycantha find yourself using a schoolhouse application and/or the Common Covering to enforce. Additionally, you may also have a Naviance account connected to your school.

Without Naviance, you simply invite your recommenders directly done your online applications away providing their full names, positions, and email addresses. With Naviance, you'll need to sync up your applications and invite your recommenders through your Naviance account, manually indicating which colleges you want them to indite letters for.

If you ladder into any technical difficulties through the process, make a point to speak to your counselor about troubleshooting. The most general place that students get stuck is the FERPA waiver. Until you've completed that step, you can't move onto your recommendation requests.

Apart from tempting your recommenders, is there anything other you need to do in your request for great evaluations?

What Else Do You Need to Dress?

Besides choosing your teacher recommenders carefully, make sure to ask well in advance of deadlines—at to the lowest degree a month before, if not in the spring of your junior year.

Send them a reminder email—perhaps masquerading as a thank you notice—roughly a week before your deadlines, and sign into your application and/or Naviance accounts to make sure they've uploaded their recommendations. Finally, make trusted to thank your recommenders for all their help in getting into college!

What's Next?

Now that you know how to submit your recommendation letters, make sure you infer what separates the great letters from the unmemorable ones. Check out this full template on what makes a good recommendation varsity letter and what makes one not so effective.

A lot of your colleges of worry mightiness participate in the Common Application program. Curb this fraught list of Common App schools to see if yours allows this convenient option.

For more happening the step by step process of applying to college, from choosing your graduate school classes to pickings campus tours, take a look at this detailed guide.

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About the Author

Rebecca graduated with her Master's in Juvenile Counseling from the Harvard Grad school of Education. She has years of pedagogy and college guidance experience and is passionate about portion students achieve their goals and improve their well-being. She calibrated magna cum laude from Tufts University and scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT.

Where Do Letters of Recommendation Go on the Common App

Source: https://blog.prepscholar.com/how-do-i-submit-letters-of-recommendation

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