REFERENCE DOCUMENTS:
WHAT IS THE COMMON APP ONLINE SCHOOL FORMS SYSTEM?
As part of the application process, schools require a variety of information to
be provided by teachers and guidance counselors who have interacted with the applicant
in the high school environment. Until this year, those forms were available as PDF files
that could be printed, copied, and mailed to the appropriate colleges. In 2008-2009,
each teacher and counselor will have the option to complete the forms online via the
Common App Online School Forms system if they desire. There is no cost to applicants or
high schools, and using the online system is completely optional.
WHAT SCHOOL FORMS MAY BE SUBMITTED ONLINE?
For counselors, the Secondary School Report (SSR) including the school profile and
transcript, Midyear Report (MYR), Final Report (FYR), Homeschool Supplement to the SSR,
and International Supplement to the SRR may all be submitted online. For teachers, the
Teacher Evaluation (TE) may be submitted online.
MY SCHOOL USES COUNSELOR'S OFFICE FROM NAVIANCE. MAY WE STILL USE THE
COMMON APP'S ONLINE SCHOOL FORMS SYSTEM?
If your school uses Counselor's Office from Naviance, you will be able to submit the various
school forms online via that system. Any form submitted via Naviance will be transmitted to the
appropriate college in the same format as forms submitted via the Common App's interface.
Applicants at high schools that use Naviance will be provided instructions
specific to this process within the Common App Online.
In other words, if your school uses Naviance, you will use their software to submit your school
forms online and not the Common App's online interface.
MUST THE SCHOOL FORMS BE SUBMITTED ONLINE?
No. Participation in the Common App Online School Forms system is completely optional.
You can continue to submit the forms on paper if you so choose. This decision is specific
to you as an individual, so other teachers/counselors at your school may choose to submit
their forms online. That said, your choice applies to all applicants for whom you are
writing a letter of recommendation.
HOW DO COLLEGES RECEIVE SCHOOL FORM INFORMATION SUBMITTED ONLINE?
The members of the Common Application go to a website where information submitted
online can be printed or "downloaded" as a datafile. Members go to the same website to
access school form information as they do to access their submitted Common Applications
and Supplements. In addition, any school form submitted via Naviance is available via
the exact same interface, so member colleges only have one place to go to get all their
submitted information.
DO I NEED TO SUBMIT THE SECONDARY SCHOOL REPORT OR TEACHER EVALUATION
FOR THE SAME STUDENT FOR EACH OF HIS/HER COLLEGES?
No. Once you have submitted your school form, you do not have to submit it again.
If the student applies to more Common App institutions, then your submitted Secondary
School Report or Teacher Evaluation is automatically sent to those new colleges. Your
submitted information is made available to a college as soon as the applicant has submitted
his/her Common Application.
HOW DOES THE PROCESS WORK FROM THE APPLICANT'S PERSPECTIVE?
When an applicant creates an account on the Common App Online, the student must
first indicate what high school he/she attends. Once this information has been saved,
the student can access a 'School Forms' section of the Common App where teachers and
counselors can be identified. By adding a teacher or counselor to the list of school
officials, an email is triggered to the teacher or counselor with information about how
to log into the Online School Forms system or how to opt for the "offline" or paper process.
Applicants are then able to track the progress of their various teachers and counselors via
a screen within the Common App Online.
TECHNICAL QUESTIONS?
If you are experiencing technical difficulties with the Common App Online, if you need to request your
personal access code or password, or if you have a general question about the Common Application
(including access to our numerous FAQ's), please use the online Help Desk. Our Help Desk is staffed
24 hours per day, 7 days a week, between October 1 and March 1.
We are not able to offer phone support for our free online service to school officials and do not
post a publicly available telephone number. Email communication you receive from technical support
will come from school_forms_help@commonapp.net. Please be sure to add this email address to
your address book and/or safe list to prevent the messages from being blocked as "spam." This is
especially important for AOL users.
School Officials (counselor/teachers): Please click here to access the online Help Desk. Please do NOT submit support requests on behalf of a student; the student should submit those directly in order to avoid confusion and speed the resolution of problems.
Applicants: Please
click here to access the Help Desk. Please do NOT submit support requests on behalf of a school official; the school official should submit those directly in order to avoid confusion and speed the resolution of problems.
HELPFUL HINTS
- Web browsers. Make sure you are using one of the following recommended browsers -- they're all free:
- Print Previews. Install Adobe Acrobat Reader--it's free:
Adobe Acrobat Reader Download Page
- School Forms Completion.
-
Save your work often
-
Logout after each session
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Use a word processor to type your writing samples before cutting and pasting or uploading them into the online forms.
