Is the Commonapp Recommednation Just a Letter Upload

Hopefully, yous have the perfect teachers in listen to ask for your letter of recommendation. Once yous've asked these teachers, how do you actually get their letters to your colleges?

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

What Are Your Options for Submitting Recommendation Messages?

Technically, at that place are 2 options for submission: online or by mail. Note the utilize of "or"; colleges don't desire teachers to mix and lucifer. In other words, schools don't want a single instructor to submit her ranking form online then send her letter by mail. If she'southward submitting online, then she should submit everything online. If by mail service, then everything should become by mail. Generally speaking, most students reading this will take their recommenders submit their letters online.

Since you're already doing more than than plenty with the college application process, yous might be relieved to hear that y'all don't really have to submit your letters! Your teachers and counselor are responsible for uploading the rec messages to whatsoever system you're using.

What you lot are responsible for, though, is inviting them. Make sure y'all give them clear deadlines, send a reminder e-mail, and double check that your schools received their letters. Whichever mode you're using to use—the Common Application, Universal Application, school-specific app, and/or Naviance software—you'll assign your recommenders. The rest is up to them!

In rare cases, your recommender might prefer or need to send her letter of recommendation by snail mail. This may be the case if you're sending an extra supplemental recommendation, or if your school uses Naviance and you lot need to assign a recommender outside of your immediate school faculty. This method is usually fine, though not preferred, by colleges—simply notify your college to expect the inflow of this document.

As you lot tin can tell, there are various ways to utilize, and, therefore, there are different means to deliver your letters of recommendation to colleges. Let's consider how exactly your recommenders volition submit in a few different scenarios.

How Practice Your Recommenders Submit Their Letters Online?

Online rec alphabetic character submission is generally a straightforward process. First, you lot invite, or "assign," your recommenders. Then, your recommenders get an electronic mail prompting them to upload their letters.

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

Scenario 1: Assign Recommenders Through Your School Awarding

In this scenario, you're applying to schoolhouse through its individual online application organisation. Schools in the University of Texas system, for example, use their own applications and don't participate in the Common App.

If your college allows or requires recommendation letters, then it will have a page on which you can invite your recommenders. Typically y'all'll exist asked to fill in their first and last names, position (like English Teacher), and email address.

The University of Texas awarding has its ain "Document Upload System." If your college doesn't want you to send recommendation letters, like Academy of California schools, then yous won't find this function on your application.

Some school applications will besides prompt yous to respond to a question about FERPA. Generally speaking, you should go ahead and waive your right to view recommendation letters, equally they're expected to be confidential betwixt letter writers and the admissions officers who read them.

All of the in a higher place instructions should work for the Common Application too. The but divergence is that you lot'll probably have to assign recommenders for more ane higher.

The bulk of college applicants are loftier school seniors, and most of the college awarding communication out there is aimed at them. But what do you practise if yous don't fall into this narrow category? Our eBook on how to prepare for and apply to college as a nontraditional educatee will walk you through everything you demand to know, from the coursework you should have nether your belt to how to get letters of recommendation when you're non a loftier school senior.

Scenario ii: Assign Recommenders Through the Common Application

Your outset step in completing the recommendation letter requirement through the Common Application is signing your FERPA waiver. In one case yous sign this, you'll be able to invite recommenders.

First, head to the "Colleges" tab. From there, you lot'll exist able to assign recommenders past each private college on your list. Each schoolhouse, by the way, customizes its own page. If your school requires two teacher recommendations, for example, then you'll meet space to invite two teacher recommenders.

Many schools also allow yous to assign one or two "Other Recommenders." This infinite is for letters across the requirements. Before sending whatsoever supplemental letters, cheque to larn your colleges' stance: some colleges actively discourage the submission of extra materials.

Once you invite your recommenders, your teachers will receive emails prompting them to submit their messages. Your recommenders are responsible for uploading their recs by the stated deadlines. Conveniently, y'all'll run into a status alter once your letters are uploaded (normally yellow means not yet, and green means yous're skilful to go!).

While your letters volition be attached to your application, they won't actually get sent to your colleges until you hit submit and pay the awarding fees (or use a fee waiver). That means that the terminal pace of actually getting your letters to the admissions commission is ultimately in your easily.

While inviting your recommenders through your online applications is a uncomplicated process, it's non actually how yous'll transport your letters if your high school uses the eastward-docs delivery software, Naviance. Read on to larn how Naviance links up to your applications to collect required documents, like your recommendation letters.

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Scenario 3: Assign Recommenders Through Naviance / Family Connexion

Many loftier schools apply the college e-docs software plan Naviance. Your counselor controls ane end of Naviance from her account, and yous control and access some other part with yours (called Family Connection).

Naviance lets yous search for colleges and keep track of deadlines and submitted documents. At the same fourth dimension, your advisor tin can upload documents, like the secondary schoolhouse written report and school transcript. Your Naviance account and all the documents it collects, including your recommendation letters, will sync up to your Common Awarding and any other schoolhouse applications that take eastward-docs.

If you are using the Common Application, y'all'll demand to "lucifer" your Mutual App and Naviance accounts. You'll enter the name of your high school on the Mutual App and sign the FERPA waiver. Once you've done this, your "Assign Recommenders" folio should look like this:

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

Since your Naviance account is directly connected to your loftier schoolhouse, you can simply select your teacher recommenders from a drop down list that has all the teachers in the school. You simply choose the teacher and add together a personal note, making certain to bespeak which colleges you lot desire her to write messages for.

While this process makes it easier on you—y'all don't have to collect your teachers' first and terminal names and email addresses—it besides has some limitations. Can yous see what they are?

Limitation of Naviance: Supplemental Recommendations

Instead of manually entering your teachers' contact info, as described above, Naviance asks you to select your teachers from a drop downward menu. While this makes your teacher recommendations piece of cake to request, it doesn't allow you lot to inquire anyone outside of your schoolhouse's faculty.

Some students wish to transport supplemental recommendations, like from a private music teacher, coach, or supervisor. Others may have switched high schools and want to ask a teacher from their previous school, or perhaps 1 who recently retired and has been removed from the drop downward list of current faculty.

If whatsoever of these scenarios apply to you lot, so you'd take to invite your external recommender through your online awarding. If you lot find yourself exceeding the number that your awarding allows, so you could print out the evaluation course and have your recommender ship her documents by mail. (Of course, practice circumspection about sending too many actress messages!)

This process may sound a chip complicated, but one time you sit downwardly at your computer, you'll really find it to exist pretty intuitive. Yous'll either assign recommenders through your online applications, or you'll choose them through Naviance.

Finally, you may have some recommenders who have total-fledged technophobia and insist on sending their letters by mail. While not preferred by colleges, this method is actually pretty easy.

How to Submit Recommendations Through Mail

Despite rumors of a shutdown a few years ago, the post office is all the same going strong and available to deliver your orange envelopes to colleges. If your recommender wants to send a hard copy, make sure to print out whatsoever ranking form that needs to accompany the evaluation letter.

And then give your recommender a pre-stamped, pre-addressed envelope. Typically, these envelopes should be sent to the school'southward undergraduate admissions function. As with all your recommenders, brand sure this teacher knows your deadlines, and follow up with her to check that she sent information technology in.

Don't worry if this bundle arrives before you submit your application. The higher will offset a file on each applicant and collect whatever materials that arrive within that file earlier eventually sitting down to review information technology as a complete awarding.

Since at that place are a few different options, let's review the key steps that you lot need to know for submitting your recommendation messages.

How to Assign Recommenders: An Overview

You may discover yourself using a school application and/or the Common Application to apply. Additionally, you may also have a Naviance account connected to your school.

Without Naviance, you simply invite your recommenders directly through your online applications past providing their full names, positions, and electronic mail 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 write letters for.

If y'all run into any technical difficulties through the process, make sure to speak to your counselor nigh troubleshooting. The most common place that students get stuck is the FERPA waiver. Until you've completed that step, you can't motility onto your recommendation requests.

Autonomously from inviting your recommenders, is there anything else yous demand to do in your quest for great evaluations?

What Else Do You lot Need to Do?

Also choosing your instructor recommenders carefully, brand sure to enquire well in accelerate of deadlines—at least a month before, if not in the leap of your junior year.

Transport them a reminder email—perhaps masquerading every bit a thank you note—about a week earlier your deadlines, and sign into your awarding and/or Naviance accounts to make sure they've uploaded their recommendations. Finally, make certain to give thanks your recommenders for all their help in getting into college!

What'south Next?

At present that you know how to submit your recommendation letters, make sure you understand what separates the great letters from the forgettable ones. Check out this full guide on what makes a good recommendation letter of the alphabet and what makes one not then effective.

A lot of your colleges of interest might participate in the Common Awarding. Bank check this full list of Common App schools to see if yours allows this convenient option.

For more on the footstep past step procedure of applying to higher, from choosing your high school classes to taking campus tours, take a look at this detailed guide.

Want to meliorate your Sabbatum score by 160 points or your Deed score by four points? We've written a guide for each examination most the top five strategies you lot must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free at present:

Take friends who too need help with examination prep? Share this article!

Near the Author

Rebecca graduated with her Master'due south in Adolescent Counseling from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has years of instruction and college counseling experience and is passionate about helping students achieve their goals and improve their well-being. She graduated magna cum laude from Tufts Academy and scored in the 99th percentile on the Saturday.

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

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