How to submit letters of recommendations through Common App

Once you’ve learned how to request letters of recommendation from your counselors, teachers, and others in your life, it’s time to actually start this process on the Common App system.

Recommenders technically submit their letters and evaluations through Common App, and the responsibility is on the applicant to enable them to do so.

Follow these steps to learn how to submit recommendations on Common App:

Before you begin, make sure you have the email addresses of your recommenders.

1. On Common App, you’ll need to make sure you first enter your high school information in the “Common App” tab > “Education”.

2. Then, you can go to one of your college’s tabs under “My Colleges” where you’ll see a section called “Recommenders and FERPA” on the left hand side.

3. Waive your rights by accepting the FERPA Release Authorization. (Waiving your rights in this case means letting colleges know you won’t read your recommendations.) 

4. Click “Invite Recommenders” to invite your recommenders via their email address. You’ll have the option of then selecting a counselor, teacher, other recommender, parent, or advisor. Fill out the required information.

5. Then, you can assign a recommender to their respective category and click “Assign” which sends them an email invite.

After setting up a recommender’s information, you’ll be able to assign them from a dropdown menu.

You can view the status of your recommender once you’ve assigned them to a college.

This is what a recommender will see in their inbox once you’ve invited them.

6. Once you’ve invited your recommenders, you can then manage and assign them to each college individually. This lets you decide which colleges receive which specific recommendations you want them to receive.

That’s it. Rinse and repeat for every one of your colleges!

FAQ

Q: What if school uses Naviance or a partner system?

For some students, you might find that you can’t add or assign your recommenders directly on Common App because your school uses Naviance:

If you know Naviance or your school’s partner system, you can invite them through there. Otherwise, you’ll need to contact your counselor to provide instructions on how these documents should be submitted.

Q: When should I invite recommenders on Common App?

First, we strongly recommend that you talk to your recommenders and ask for letters of recommendation (in-person if possible) or else it’ll be awkward if you send them an invite, but they never actually said they’d write one for you. Once they’ve agreed, then you can go ahead and invite them on the system. 

Q: Why do I have to waive my rights with the FERPA Release Authorization?

FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) is a law that protects the privacy of your education records like transcripts, test scores, etc. and has two parts. 

First, completing the authorization grants your high school permission to send those records on your behalf since colleges require them. 

Second, waiving your rights lets colleges and universities know you won’t read your recommendations, which helps reassure that the letters will be candid and truthful.