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Letters of Recommendation

Letters of Recommendation Request Process

When requesting a letter of recommendation, please follow these steps:

  1. Check to see if a recommendation letter is required for the college(s) you are applying to.

  • Many colleges do not require a letter and will not use it as part of your application review. Please do not ask staff members to write a letter unless you are sure you need one.

  1. Determine if you need a teacher recommendation, a counselor recommendation, or both.

  • If you need help finding this information, the College & Career Counselor or Senior Counselors can assist you.

  • You can also check out this video on how to determine if you need a letter of recommendation

  1. Ask your recommender if they would be willing to write you a letter. Please do this BEFORE making a request in SchooLinks.

  2. Request the recommendation letter on SchooLinks. See detailed instructions below! 

  3. Submit a "Letter of Recommendation Request Form" to your teacher and/or counselor AT LEAST 10 school days before your earliest application deadline. 

    1. Letter of Recommendation Request Form- TEACHER 

    2. Letter of Recommendation Request Form- COUNSELOR

  4. Thank your recommender!

SchooLinks Instructions for Requesting Letters of Recommendation
*To view the links below, students must be logged into their SchooLinks account

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Before you can request letters, you must set up your college applications on SchooLinks: 

 

Teacher Letters of Recommendation  

  1. Link your SchooLinks & Common App accounts (Common App Only) 

  2. Complete FERPA Release Agreements on both Common App & SchooLinks (Common App Only) 

  • The Common App FERPA Release Form can be found on the "My Colleges" tab under the "Recommenders & FERPA section."

  • The SchooLinks form will pop up automatically once you add your first college to your applications list.

  1. Requesting Teacher Recommendations/ Evaluations in SchooLinks (Common App & College Specific Apps) 

  • Click on the pencil icon of the school you want to request a teacher evaluation for

  • Select "General" for the type of recommendation so the letter can be used for multiple colleges.

  • You only need to add a recommender once, you can then assign that same recommender and letter to multiple colleges. Check out this video on how to add a teacher recommender.

    1. *Make sure you send them the Letter of Recommendation Request Form- TEACHER*

Counselor Recommendation Instructions

If a counselor letter is required for Common App or a Non-Common App school, it will automatically appear in SchooLinks on your application. You just need to submit the Recommendation Letter Request Form - COUNSELOR to your counselor at least 10 school days before your first deadline and you are all set!