How to Submit Letters of Recommendation to a College?

How to Submit Letters of Recommendation to a College?

Indian/NRI Students, I’m hopeful, that you have already started you college admission process and you might also have decided the name of the teachers you’ll ask for letter of recommendation.

Now, you must be wondering, how will these letters be submitted to your colleges. This guide will help you know more about the submission of letter of recommendations via different platforms and ways.

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How to Submit Letters of Recommendation to Colleges

As you gear up for the college admission process and have already chosen the teachers who will write your letters of recommendation, the next step is figuring out how these letters will reach your chosen colleges. This guide aims to help you understand the various methods and platforms for submitting letters of recommendation.

How to ask for a letter of recommendation for college. 

Letters of recommendation are pivotal in college applications, offering a comprehensive view of an applicant beyond academic scores and extracurricular activities. These endorsements provide a unique insight into a student's character, academic performance, and potential contributions to a college community.

Here are some tips on how to request strong letters of recommendation:

Choose Wisely: Select teachers or mentors who know you well and can vouch for your abilities and character. Approach individuals who can provide specific examples of your strengths and achievements.

Ask Early: Request letters well in advance of application deadlines, allowing ample time for recommenders to craft thoughtful and personalized letters.

Communicate Clearly: Communicate the deadlines and requirements for submission. Provide information about the colleges or programs you're applying to and any specific aspects you'd like them to emphasize.

Follow-Up: Politely follow up closer to the deadlines as a gentle reminder. Ensure they have all the necessary details to submit the letters promptly.

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Whom Should I Ask to Write Letters of Recommendation?

For instance, the University of Chicago specifies the need for two letters of recommendation from teachers in "academic subjects" such as mathematics, social studies, history, science, English or literature, foreign language, or other courses involving substantial reading, writing, or class discussion.

Colleen Paparella, founder of DC College Counseling, suggests that students might include letters from elective teachers aligned with their intended majors. For example, a student aiming to major in vocal performance might request a letter from the choir teacher, while an art student could approach the art teacher for a recommendation. It's crucial to review a college's website for specific requirements regarding letters of recommendation. The guidelines offered will typically outline the exact prerequisites for these letters.

A good recommendation letter is a powerful asset in a student's college application:

According to experts like Sherman, students can positively influence the content of the recommendation letter by supplying pertinent information. One effective strategy is to offer details about significant projects or assignments that were particularly impactful or meaningful to the student. Sharing specific examples of academic achievements, extracurricular contributions, or personal growth experiences can guide the recommender in highlighting these aspects in the letter.

Here are some key elements that can contribute to a strong recommendation letter:

1. Specific Examples: Providing instances where the student excelled, demonstrated leadership, or showcased their skills can strengthen the recommendation. These examples can give insight into the student's character and abilities

2. Academic Achievements: Highlighting academic accomplishments or remarkable performances in specific subjects or projects can add weight to the letter.

3. Personal Qualities and Growth: Discussing personal traits, such as determination, perseverance, or creativity, along with instances of personal growth or challenges overcome, can provide a comprehensive view of the student's character.

4. Relevance to College Goals: Connecting the student's strengths and achievements to their future college goals or intended field of study can make the letter more impactful.

5. Specific Requests: Requesting the recommender to address certain qualities, experiences, or achievements important for the college application can guide them in crafting a more tailored and effective letter.

Modes of LOR Submissions:

Letter of Recommendations (LORs) can be submitted in are to be submitted either by Mail or by Uploading it online. However, it clearly depends on the platform you chose for your application process. If you are applying online then everything goes online and in cases of mail, then letter of recommendations are to be submitted via mail. And submission has to be done by your recommender. You’ll only have to send out reminder emails and double check whether this particular step is completed in the application process or not.

Let’s look at some different letter of recommendation submissions scenarios.

Online Submissions:

Online submissions are usually a straightforward process, but the process may change depending on the application you are using. Let’s go through each application one-by-one.

Scenario #1: Submission Through Your School Application-

A usual college application system will have a separate page on which you can invite your recommenders. The information it’ll ask you to fill out would be their name, position and email address. A notification will be sent out to recommenders and then they can submit their letters through the link provided.

Some schools consider letter of recommendation as a confidential conversation between the letter writers and admission officers. Students will be asked to give up their right to view the letters by prompting a question about FERPA.

 

Scenario #2: Submission Through the Common Application App-

Below are the steps to send invites via Common Application App:

• Sign you FERPA waiver,
• Open the College’s Tab,
• Look for recommenders section (number of letters required depends on the school, some need one, some need two.)
• Update the details of your recommenders and an invite will be sent to them.

Teachers and counsellors then have to upload their letters before the deadline and students can check it by looking at the application status one the Common Application app. Usually yellow means not submitted yet, and green means you’re good to go.

Once the letter are uploaded and attached to your application, you’ll have to pay the application fees and then you’ll hit submit to have your application sent to college.

Scenario #3: Submission Through Naviance / Family Connection

Apart from using the Common Application app, some schools prefer to have documents received via e-docs software program Naviance.

Naviance is a one-stop application for searching colleges, keeping a track of deadlines and submission of documents. This system is controlled by two parties, namely your counsellor via Naviance and you via Family Connection. Naviance account will sync up all documents it collects to your Common Application and any other school applications that accept e-docs.

Now if you’re using Common Application, the you’d have to match your Naviance account with the ones of Common App. You can simply do that by entering your college/school name and signing the FERPA waiver. Post that you’ll be directed to “Assign Recommenders” page.

One big advantage Naviance has is it is linked to the school account and has details of all the teachers there. Hence, you wouldn’t have to keep the contact details of your teachers handy. You can select the teacher from the drop down list and they’ll receive the invitation.

However, Naviance doesn’t allow outside recommen]ers who are not part of the school. In such cases, you would have to take a print out of evaluation form and will have send the letter via post.

Mail Submissions:

In some cases, recommenders prefer to send a hard copy of letter of recommendation to the colleges. They usually do it by post office and using an orange envelope. You must make sure to provide your recommender with a pre-stamped, pre-addressed envelope. You can get these envelopes at your school’s undergraduate offices. And also provide them with a print out of any ranking form that needs to accompany the evaluation letter.

To Summarize:

There are different ways you can send your letter of recommendation to your college. However, the complexity depends on your mode of submission.

Make sure you thank your teachers and counsellors for the effort they put in to write you a strong letter of recommendation.