How Students Request Documents for Common App
userEducator Xello productXello 6-12 Time7 minutes

For colleges that have teamed up with Common App for the application process, students use Xello to request their counselor send the necessary documents, such as their transcripts, to the colleges of their choice. Additionally, they use Xello to request an educator at their school write them a Teacher Evaluation that will be sent to each of the colleges on their College List.

Students can see which colleges have teamed up with Common App by the logo next to the college name in the College Planning section in Xello.

Students will only need to assign a counselor once. After the counselor has received the first request, the counselor will send the student’s transcript and necessary forms to every Common App college the student has saved for college applications.

The same applies for Teacher Evaluations. Students request an evaluation and the teacher need only fill it out once to send it to each Common App college the student has requested of them.

noteNote: Only colleges that have teamed up with Common App will use this workflow to request Counselor Forms (including transcripts) or Teacher Evaluations (or recommendation letters). For information on how to send a Transcript or recommendation letter to a college without Common App, check out: How Students Request a Transcript or How Students Request a Recommendation Letter.
In this article

How Students Request Counselor Forms

Students use Xello to request their necessary application forms be sent. Necessary forms can include transcripts. How students request Counselor Forms for Common App colleges:

  1. From their Student Dashboard, under Goals & Plans, students click College Planning.
    Click to enlarge
  2. They click View My Applications to see the full list of colleges they’re tracking.
  3. They click on a college with the Common App logo to open a brief profile of that college.
  4. Next to Counselor Forms, they click Assign Counselor to open the list of counselors at their school.
  5. They choose their counselor and click Select.
    • They have the option to deselect and Remove that counselor to select another.
  6. The student clicks Send and is returned to the college page.
    • A banner at the top of the page indicates success.

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How Students Request Teacher Evaluations

Students use Xello to request Teacher Evaluations for Common App colleges. Teachers only need to fill this out once for it to be sent to every Common App college the student has saved. Make sure the letter is specific to the student’s accomplishments and not to the institution.

How students request Teacher Evaluations:

  1. They navigate to the college they want a Teacher Evaluation sent.
    • For a reminder, follow steps 1 through 3 above.
  2. Next to Teacher Evaluations, they click Request to open the list of every educator at their school in Xello.
  3. They choose the referrer they'd like and click Select to begin filling out the Teacher Evaluation request.
  4. Once finished, they click Send and are returned to the college page.
    • A banner at the top of the page indicates success.
Requesting Your Documents for Common App Colleges 1:43
TipTip: Share this short video with your students. Link to it on their Dashboard Resources, place it in an Assignment, or message the link to your student groups in Xello. This video is also available in Spanish new tab.

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Additional Resources

  • pdfPDF
    PDFCommon App Guide
  • pdfPDF
    PDFStudent Guide for Common App and Xello
  • live webinarWalkthrough
    WalkthroughCommon App Integration Walkthrough
  • live webinarRecorded WEbinar
    Recorded WebinarXello and Common App 101
  • short videoShort Video
    Short VideoLinking Your Common App to Xello

    A student-facing video covering how students link their Common App account with Xello (also available in Spanish).

  • short videoShort Video
    Short VideoRequesting Your Documents for Common App

    A student-facing short video that walks through how to request documents for Common App in Xello (also available in Spanish).

  • pdfShort Video
    Short VideoXello's Common App Integration for Counselors

    A short video to walk counselors through how to integrate and begin completing tasks for Common App in Xello.

  • pdfShort Video
    Short VideoCommon App Teacher Recommender Through Xello

    A quick overview of how teachers complete teacher evaluations for students applying to Common App colleges.