Send a recommendation letter to the institution
userEducator Xello productXello 6-12 Time8 minutes

When a student sends a request for a letter of recommendation, you can send it to the institution from your account in Xello.

Xello has teamed up with Parchment to streamline the delivery of college applications to higher education institutions. For the majority of colleges, you'll upload your letter of recommendation and send it straight to the institution using Parchment or a verified email that Xello sources from the institution. For colleges not in the Parchment network or which haven't provided an email, you can enter a custom email to send it from Xello.

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Upload and send from Xello

If you're a Xello administrator or educator, you can complete student requests right in your Xello account. Log in to Xello to view all student requests. Click into a student's request to view their personalized note, upload your completed letter, and send it to the institution.

To upload a recommendation letter from your educator account: 

  1. From your Educator account, click Features and select College Planning.
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    • Or, from your dashboard, click the College Planning card.
  2. Next to Recommendation letters, click Manage.
    Recommendation Letters tile highlighted on College Planning page
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    Recommendation Letters tile highlighted on College Planning page
  3. Locate the student request you want to complete and click Upload letter to view the personalized student request.
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  4. Take this opportunity to:
    • View the student's personal note to you.
    • Click View tips for idea-starters on what content to include in the recommendation letter.
  5. Click Upload PDF to locate the recommendation letter on your computer or device.
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  6. Click Choose a local file to add the recommendation letter. Ensure it's the PDF version.
  7. Once you've found and selected the file, click Add.
    • To double check you've uploaded the correct file, the file name is visible where the Upload PDF button was.
  8. When finished, click Send.
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  9. If the institution is in Parchment's network or has a verified email, a message will confirm you're ready to send it. Click Send.
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  10. If the institution is not in Parchment's network or doesn't have a verified email, enter the email address and click Send.
    • If you don't have the email address handy, click Cancel to return to the student's request. Then click Save for later. This will save your work so you or a fellow educator can return and complete the request when you have the address. Check out Complete requests with the Ready to send status for more information.
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Complete requests with the Ready to send status

You and other educators can write and upload a recommendation letter without sending it to the institution. This might happen if you want to revisit the letter to edit or complete it. These letters will have the status of Ready to send.

To send a letter that has been uploaded but not yet sent to the institution:

  1. From your Educator account, click Features and select College Planning.
    Click to enlarge
    • Or, from your dashboard, click the College Planning card.
  2. Next to Recommendation letters, click the number above Ready to send to filter student requests to those that are uploaded to Xello.
    Recommendation Letters tile highlighted on College Planning page
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    Recommendation Letters tile highlighted on College Planning page
  3. Locate the student with the letter that’s ready to send.
  4. In the Status column, click Send now.
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  5. If the institution is in Parchment's network or has a verified email, click Send. Otherwise, add the institution's email and click Send.
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Send on behalf of another educator

If you have administrator access, you can send recommendation letters that have been completed and assigned to Xello admin at your school. A referrer will complete the recommendation letter and upload it to Xello. If they choose to defer it, then Xello admin at your school will be assigned to send it to the institution. You'll receive an email stating the educator has deferred the recommendation letter to you.

You can find the requests that were deferred in the Other requests dropdown with the status of Pending submission.

FYIFYI: You can turn off these email notifications. From any page in Xello, click your profile image dropdown, then click Profile. Scroll to the bottom and switch the Recommendation letter email notifications toggle to OFF.

To send a recommendation letter on behalf of another educator: 

  1. From your Educator account, click Features and select College Planning.
    Click to enlarge
    • Or, from your dashboard, click the College Planning card.
  2. Next to Recommendation letters, click Manage.
    Recommendation Letters tile highlighted on College Planning page
    Click to enlarge
    Recommendation Letters tile highlighted on College Planning page
  3. In the My requests dropdown, select Other requests.
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  4. Locate the student with the letter that’s ready to send. The status will be Pending submission. You can also view the referrer who completed the letter, along the due date and other relevant information.
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  5. Click Send now.
  6. If the institution is in Parchment's network or has a verified email, click Send. Otherwise, add the institution's email and click Send.
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