<p>Should I give my professor pre stamped envelopes to all of the schools I want them to send my letter of rec to? Is that how it usually works?</p>
<p>You can do that.</p>
<p>You also can give them envelopes for their letters, and ask them to seal the envelope shut and sign their name across the envelope’s seal before you pick the letters up to include in one big package with all of the rest of the stuff that you mail to the university.</p>
<p>Okay well here I am also confused. What other stuff would I send to the school in my “big package.” Could you list all of the things I would send? Sorry for the hassle but i’m really lost here…</p>
<p>If you are sending a paper application (instead of filing it online) that would go in the “big package” along with a sealed official copy of your transcript, sealed letters of recommendation, and any other paperwork that the college/university you are applying to has asked for as part of the application. If you go that route, send the package by express mail, UPS, FexEd, or the like and pay for tracking so that you know when it has arrived. The admissions offices will put all the loose pieces into one file for you as they arrive if they are sent separately, but some people prefer to organize their own stuff for mailing.</p>
<p>Well I am submitting my applications via the CommonApp. I thought that the universities require the institutions to send it or it is unofficial? For example, would I need my HS counselor to send my HS counselor form, my HS to send my transcripts, my professor to send my letter of rec, and my university to send my first quarter grades, etc.</p>
<p>In my experience, if you are sending paper things, the “big package” can work pretty well. All the documents you would be sending would need to be originals (or at least have original signatures on them) and be sealed up at the sources in such a way that it would be obvious if you had tampered with them. That is the reason for asking the referee to sign or stamp something over the seal on the letter. It also is perfectly OK for you to bundle up some of the stuff and have other pieces sent separately.</p>
<p>In this century, many of these items can be transmitted electronically, and if that is how your referees, high school, current college, etc. want to handle it, it would be OK too. Read through the instructions at CommonApp and communicate with the admissions offices so you know how to do what needs to be done.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>