<p>I am a little confused about how teacher recommendations process works! I have researched the colleges in which I am applying and all but two that require teacher recommendations utilize the common app. It is under my impression that through the common app my teachers will be able to submit their recommendation letter. I emailed two of my teachers over the summer asking if they would be willing to write a letter, stating that while they have some free time over the summer it may be a little less hectic! I have a few questions that you might be able to answer. Thank you for the help!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>On the common app it will not let me begin any applications for the fall of 2015 does anyone know when this will become available?</p></li>
<li><p>On the common app will my teachers be able to submit the letter of recommendation online?</p></li>
<li><p>I gave my teachers an online folder of some material I did during the school year, a copy of my resume, my ACT scores, and my GPA and class rank. Is there anything else I should give them?</p></li>
<li><p>I did not include which schools I am applying to, but is it normal to need about eight letters from just one teacher? Are they going to have to write a unique letter for each college, or can they use the same letter for all eight colleges?</p></li>
<li><p>Do you have any advice or tips for me so that I can make this process easier for my teachers?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>4) One letter, used for multiple schools & scholarships
5) They’ve done this dozens maybe hundreds of times. If you do something amiss, they’ll steer you back.</p>
<p>commonapp will become available for this year on august 1st. You will ‘invite’ teachers via common app and they will receive an email about how to submit the letter online. Its a good idea to give them enough time to write it and to provide a resume. One letter for all colleges. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>You invite them through the common app.</p></li>
<li><p>tell them what you would like them to highlight. Do you want them to stress that you were a high achiever? That you had great improvement? That you contributed to class discussions? Also, highlight certain assignments that you are very proud of, so they can talk about that. </p></li>
<li><p>As a continuation of #3, you have already made their job easier by submitting a resume. However, they will likely not go in depth into ECs though unless it was related to their subject. They didn’t need your test scores, GPA or class rank. Colleges will see that already and that would be a waste of space in a letter. You should submit your grade in that course. Teachers get so annoyed when they have to look through old date to find something that you should’ve provided.</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>Sometime in August I believe.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes; you invite a teacher through the common app once and then can add them to whatever colleges you want (it will be clearer once you see the actual format).</p></li>
<li><p>A thank you letter. </p></li>
<li><p>They write one letter and upload it to their Common App account; then when you add the teacher to each college and submit your application, that letter gets sent to the college. </p></li>
<li><p>They’ve probably done this many times before. Once the Common App goes live, you can see whether they have submitted their letter. You may have to give them a couple gentle reminders. One of my teachers needed zero reminders; she got it done right away. My other teacher was a little more scatter-brained and asked me to keep checking up on him. I probably reminded him about five times. I felt a little bad about it, but he assured me he needed the reminders.</p></li>
</ol>