View educator recommendation letter requests

userEducator Xello productXello 6-12 Time3 minute

From your educator account in Xello, view and track the recommendation letter requests your students have sent. View status updates such as when the referrer has received a request and whether the letter is ready to send.

Your educator permissions will determine what you can access and the actions you can complete in the College section in Xello. To learn more, including how to find out your permissions, check out Permissions and college applications.

  Admin User Limited
Access and actions
  • Can view all recommendation letter requests, regardless of the assignee
  • Can action recommendation letters assigned to them
  • Can send recommendation letters with the status Ready to send, regardless of the assignee
  • Can send a deferred recommendation letter
  • Can action recommendation letters assigned to them
  • Can action recommendation letters assigned to them

Work with Application manager links

To help prioritize your work, and depending on the time of year, or tasks you plan to complete, you can view the list of requests in a variety of ways. The Application manager page makes this easy with quick access to the list of student requests filtered to common use-cases.

noteNote: Your educator permissions will determine what you can access and the actions you can complete in the College section in Xello. To learn more, including how to find out your permissions, check out Permissions and college applications.

Access the Application manager from the college application banner on the dashboard, or by clicking Features, then College and selecting Application manager.

Educator account on the Completion Standards page. The Matchmaker quiz modal is open and is being assigned to multiple grades, with a due date
Educator account in Xello. In the left menu, Features is open. The College menu is also open and the cursor is selecting Application manager.

Select one of the three cards at the top of the page to focus on documents that are due in the next 7 days, overdue, or expired. Clicking one of these links will open the list of document requests filtered to the status you chose.

Educator account in Xello, on the Application manager page. Three tiles are highlighted. They say "Documents due in the next 7 days", "Documents overdue", and "Documents expired".
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Educator account in Xello, on the Application manager page. Three tiles are highlighted. They say "Documents due in the next 7 days", "Documents overdue", and "Documents expired".

If you want to view the entire list of letters of recommendation, regardless of upcoming due dates, completion status, or the point in the application process click the View requests dropdown and select Letters of recommendation. This will open the list of all letters of recommendation requests by student. From here you can search, or you can apply filters to narrow the list.

Educator account in Xello, on the Application manager page. The "View requests" dropdown is highlighted and the cursor is clicking Letters of recommendation.
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Educator account in Xello, on the Application manager page. The "View requests" dropdown is highlighted and the cursor is clicking Letters of recommendation.

To view student requests by their stage in the application process, select a point on the application timeline: Initial, Mid-year, or Final. This will filter the list of document requests to show only the ones relevant to that stage. Click View requests to see the full list of documents for that period, including transcripts, letters of recommendation, and fee waivers, where applicable.

Educator account in Xello, on the Application manager page. The three cards under "Document requests" are highlighted. The names of the cards are "Initial", "Mid-year", and "Final".
Click to enlarge
Educator account in Xello, on the Application manager page. The three cards under "Document requests" are highlighted. The names of the cards are "Initial", "Mid-year", and "Final".

View just one document type within a point in the application process timeline by clicking the number next to the name of the document type. For example, clicking the number next to Letters of recommendation will show only the requests that require a counselor or teacher recommendation letter or evaluation.

College applications page in Xello. The tile called "Initial" is highlighted. The cursor is clicking the number next to Letters of recommendation
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College applications page in Xello. The tile called "Initial" is highlighted. The cursor is clicking the number next to Letters of recommendation

If you want to view only the requests assigned to you, and hide any unassigned requests or ones assigned to other educators, you can select the Show only my requests box. This filter will remain even when you click other links on the Application manager page. For example, if you check Show only my requests and then click the View requests dropdown to select Letters of recommendation, the next page will show only letter of recommendation requests assigned to you by students.

Application manager page in Xello. The Show only my requests button is highlighted.
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Application manager page in Xello. The Show only my requests button is highlighted.

Navigate document requests

Once on the All document requests page, there are ways to narrow or sort the list, or view more information about the student and their request. Here are some actions you can complete:

  1. If you clicked one of the filtering links on the Application manager page to view student requests, check out the filters that are automatically applied based on the link you selected. Click the X next to a filter to remove it.
    Document requests page in Xello. There are three filters applied and highlighted: "Incomplete", "Required", and "Letter of recommendation". The cursor is clicking the X next to "Initial" to remove it.
    Click to enlarge
    Document requests page in Xello. There are three filters applied and highlighted: "Incomplete", "Required", and "Letter of recommendation". The cursor is clicking the X next to "Initial" to remove it.
  2. To narrow the list further, click Filters. Among other options, you can choose to filter by group, college, requirement (document needed in the application), application status or deadline, inactive students, or a combination of criteria. Once you've selected your filters, click Apply.
    College application document filters in Xello
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    College application document filters in Xello
    tipTip: To filter the list of requests to only those assigned to you, click Filters, then in the Assignee field, select your own name.
  3. Back on the list, regardless of the filters applied, some of the actions you can complete include: 
    • View the student's profile and their College Planning tab, by clicking their name. You'll be able to view their college application work in Xello, including the applications they're tracking, and admission decisions.
    • Sort the list by clicking on any column title.
    • Use the search bar and search by student name, grade, or student ID.
      Document requests page in Xello. The search bar is highlighted
      Click to enlarge
      Document requests page in Xello. The search bar is highlighted
    • Click the progress wheel to open a side panel where you can view or send the document, and view the history of completed requests for the student. Note: The progress wheel and the content in the side panel also have the filters applied.
      The All document requests page in Xello. The cursor is clicking on a student's progress wheel marked as 1/2 (50%) completed
      Click to enlarge
      The All document requests page in Xello. The cursor is clicking on a student's progress wheel marked as 1/2 (50%) completed
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