Set up a counselor profile for Common App

userEducator Xello productXello 6-12 Time7 minutes

Common App has teamed up with Xello to make supporting your students with their college applications easier. For colleges that work with Common App, you’ll be able to do everything from Xello.

Students will send a request through Xello to an educator. For counselors, they request their counselor forms (including their transcript) are sent. For teachers, they request a teacher evaluation (sometimes known as a recommendation letter) is completed.

On your end, you receive notification of their requests via email. Use the email to sign in to Xello, or if you use single sign-on (SSO) at your school, access your Xello account as you normally would.

Once you’ve received your first request from a student, you’ll need to set up your counselor profile. You'll complete this profile one time. When you send forms for your students, this profile is included.

After completing the profile, Common App is integrated with your Xello account.

To integrate Common App with Xello:

  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 Common App, click Manage to land on your list of student requests.
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  3. In the banner at the top of the page, click Create.
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    • If you've also been requested as a Teacher recommender, you'll need to complete the teacher profile to write recommendation letters for your students. Check out Set Up a teacher profile for Common App for more information.
  4. Fill out the form and click Complete.
    • In case you wish to pause and return later, clicking Save draft will save your work. You will not be able to fulfill requests until your profile is complete.
TipTip: Your profile can be edited at any time. From the student request page, click Edit profile to make any changes.

Check out this video for more information on Xello's integration with Common App.

Common App Integration for Counselors 2:19

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Additional resources

  • pdfPDF
    PDFCommon App guide

    Use this guide to learn how students use Common App in Xello. And learn how you use it as a counselor or teacher, including how to set up a profile, complete student requests, update their status, and more.

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    If you're a counselor at a school that uses Common App, then you'd benefit from this course. You'll understand your role in the process, as well as steps for teacher recommenders and students.

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