Can I Upload a Letter of Recommendation

Hopefully, you have the perfect teachers in heed to inquire for your letter of the alphabet of recommendation. One time you've asked these teachers, how do you lot really get their messages to your colleges?

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

What Are Your Options for Submitting Recommendation Letters?

Technically, there are two options for submission: online or past mail service. Note the employ of "or"; colleges don't desire teachers to mix and match. In other words, schools don't want a unmarried teacher to submit her ranking form online and so send her letter by mail. If she'due south submitting online, then she should submit everything online. If by mail, and so everything should become by mail. Generally speaking, most students reading this volition have their recommenders submit their messages online.

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

What you lot are responsible for, though, is inviting them. Make certain you give them articulate deadlines, send a reminder email, and double check that your schools received their letters. Whichever mode you're using to apply—the Common Awarding, Universal Awarding, school-specific app, and/or Naviance software—you lot'll assign your recommenders. The remainder is up to them!

In rare cases, your recommender might prefer or need to send her letter of the alphabet of recommendation past snail mail. This may exist the instance if you're sending an extra supplemental recommendation, or if your school uses Naviance and yous need to assign a recommender outside of your firsthand school faculty. This method is commonly fine, though not preferred, by colleges—just notify your college to expect the inflow of this document.

As you can tell, in that location are diverse means to employ, and, therefore, at that place are different ways to deliver your letters of recommendation to colleges. Let'southward consider how exactly your recommenders will submit in a few unlike scenarios.

How Exercise Your Recommenders Submit Their Messages Online?

Online rec letter submission is more often than not a straightforward process. Showtime, yous invite, or "assign," your recommenders. And then, your recommenders become an email prompting them to upload their letters.

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

Scenario i: Assign Recommenders Through Your School Application

In this scenario, you're applying to school through its individual online application organisation. Schools in the University of Texas system, for instance, 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 yous'll exist asked to fill in their first and terminal names, position (like English Instructor), and email address.

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

Some schoolhouse applications volition as well prompt you to respond to a question about FERPA. Generally speaking, you should go ahead and waive your right to view recommendation messages, as they're expected to be confidential between letter writers and the admissions officers who read them.

All of the higher up instructions should work for the Common Application too. The only divergence is that you'll probably have to assign recommenders for more than one college.

The majority of college applicants are loftier school seniors, and nearly of the college application advice out there is aimed at them. Merely what do you do if you lot don't fall into this narrow category? Our eBook on how to prepare for and utilise to college equally a nontraditional student will walk you through everything you need to know, from the coursework you should take under your belt to how to get letters of recommendation when you're not a high school senior.

Scenario 2: Assign Recommenders Through the Mutual Awarding

Your first stride in completing the recommendation letter requirement through the Mutual Awarding is signing your FERPA waiver. One time you sign this, yous'll be able to invite recommenders.

First, head to the "Colleges" tab. From there, you'll be able to assign recommenders by each individual college on your list. Each school, past the way, customizes its own page. If your school requires 2 teacher recommendations, for instance, then you'll see space to invite two teacher recommenders.

Many schools also permit you to assign one or two "Other Recommenders." This space is for letters beyond the requirements. Earlier sending whatever supplemental letters, check to learn your colleges' opinion: some colleges actively discourage the submission of extra materials.

In one case yous 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 alter once your messages are uploaded (normally yellow means not yet, and green means you're proficient to become!).

While your letters volition be attached to your awarding, they won't actually get sent to your colleges until you lot hitting submit and pay the application fees (or use a fee waiver). That ways that the final step of actually getting your letters to the admissions committee is ultimately in your hands.

While inviting your recommenders through your online applications is a uncomplicated process, information technology'south non actually how you'll send your letters if your high school uses the e-docs delivery software, Naviance. Read on to learn how Naviance links up to your applications to collect required documents, similar your recommendation letters.

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Scenario 3: Assign Recommenders Through Naviance / Family Connection

Many high schools use the college east-docs software program Naviance. Your counselor controls one end of Naviance from her account, and you lot control and access some other part with yours (called Family Connection).

Naviance lets y'all search for colleges and continue runway of deadlines and submitted documents. At the same time, your counselor can upload documents, like the secondary schoolhouse written report and school transcript. Your Naviance account and all the documents it collects, including your recommendation messages, volition sync up to your Common Application and any other school applications that accept eastward-docs.

If yous are using the Common Application, you'll need to "match" your Common App and Naviance accounts. Yous'll enter the name of your high school on the Mutual App and sign the FERPA waiver. Once you lot've done this, your "Assign Recommenders" folio should await like this:

As yous 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 business relationship is directly connected to your high school, yous can just select your teacher recommenders from a drop down list that has all the teachers in the school. You simply choose the instructor and add a personal note, making sure to indicate which colleges yous desire her to write messages for.

While this process makes it easier on you—you don't take to collect your teachers' commencement and final names and electronic mail addresses—information technology too has some limitations. Can you see what they are?

Limitation of Naviance: Supplemental Recommendations

Instead of manually entering your teachers' contact info, as described above, Naviance asks y'all to select your teachers from a drib downwards menu. While this makes your teacher recommendations easy to asking, information technology doesn't permit you to ask anyone outside of your school'south faculty.

Some students wish to send supplemental recommendations, like from a private music teacher, coach, or supervisor. Others may have switched loftier schools and desire to enquire a teacher from their previous school, or perhaps one who recently retired and has been removed from the drop down list of electric current faculty.

If whatsoever of these scenarios apply to y'all, and then you'd accept to invite your external recommender through your online application. If you find yourself exceeding the number that your application allows, then you could print out the evaluation form and have your recommender ship her documents by mail. (Of course, practice caution nearly sending too many actress letters!)

This process may sound a scrap complicated, only in one case you sit down at your computer, you'll really discover it to be pretty intuitive. You'll either assign recommenders through your online applications, or y'all'll cull them through Naviance.

Finally, yous may accept some recommenders who take full-fledged technophobia and insist on sending their letters by mail. While not preferred past colleges, this method is actually pretty piece of cake.

How to Submit Recommendations Through Mail service

Despite rumors of a shutdown a few years agone, the post office is still going strong and available to deliver your orange envelopes to colleges. If your recommender wants to transport a hard re-create, brand sure to print out any ranking form that needs to accompany the evaluation letter of the alphabet.

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

Don't worry if this package arrives before you lot submit your application. The higher volition start a file on each applicant and collect whatever materials that make it within that file before eventually sitting down to review it as a complete awarding.

Since in that location are a few unlike options, let'due south review the fundamental steps that you need to know for submitting your recommendation letters.

How to Assign Recommenders: An Overview

Yous may find yourself using a schoolhouse application and/or the Mutual Awarding to utilize. Additionally, you may besides accept a Naviance business relationship connected to your school.

Without Naviance, you simply invite your recommenders straight through your online applications by providing their full names, positions, and electronic mail addresses. With Naviance, y'all'll need to sync up your applications and invite your recommenders through your Naviance business relationship, manually indicating which colleges you want them to write letters for.

If you lot run into whatever technical difficulties through the procedure, make certain to speak to your counselor almost troubleshooting. The well-nigh common place that students become stuck is the FERPA waiver. Until you've completed that step, you can't motion onto your recommendation requests.

Apart from inviting your recommenders, is in that location anything else you need to do in your quest for dandy evaluations?

What Else Exercise You Need to Do?

Besides choosing your teacher recommenders carefully, brand certain to ask well in advance of deadlines—at least a month earlier, if not in the spring of your junior year.

Transport them a reminder email—perhaps masquerading as a thanks note—nearly a week before your deadlines, and sign into your application and/or Naviance accounts to make sure they've uploaded their recommendations. Finally, brand sure to thank your recommenders for all their assistance in getting into college!

What'due south Side by side?

Now that yous know how to submit your recommendation letters, make sure you understand what separates the neat letters from the forgettable ones. Bank check out this full guide on what makes a good recommendation alphabetic character and what makes ane not so constructive.

A lot of your colleges of involvement might participate in the Common Application. Check this total list of Common App schools to see if yours allows this user-friendly selection.

For more than on the step past step procedure of applying to college, from choosing your high schoolhouse classes to taking campus tours, take a wait at this detailed guide.

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Nearly the Writer

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

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