<p>Hi, I began my common app application and so far so good. But, I have other letters of reccomendation I would like to send in, and two grades I received through a program outside of my school (but still count for full school credit and such).</p>
<p>Do I just put these things in an envelope, and send them to the colleges I'm applying for? Is there anything else I should include like a note or something clarifying who I am and what I am sending in?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>If you need to send things through the mail, I would include a typed note as a cover sheet with your full name, birthdate, address, phone and what “cycle” (ED, EA, RD, etc.) you are applying for. If you have already submitted the Common App application, the school may give you some kind of ID number for your application (usually when they have a portal for you to check status, there is often an id number). So you might put that on as well. </p>
<p>However… there is very little a student would send themselves, although I think sometimes international students end up having to do so.</p>
<p>Recommendation letters should be sent from the recommender whenever possible. Give them the admissions office address (an envelope is great!). Ask them to use your full name – if it is common name/large school, you might email admissions and tell them this recommender will be sending a letter for you so they can match it up more easily. Sometimes recommenders will give you the letters in an envelope where they have signed over the flap (but then you need multiple copies to use it, so that is a kind of “old school” way to do it).</p>
<p>For outside transcripts: my kids’ school actually will take those and include them when they send the high school transcripts. I think they scan them, then upload both the regular and additional transcripts. They required us to get official transcripts SENT TO THEM (the high school) from the organization where the class was taken. Then they just included it. One of my kids took a class for high school credit at a foreign language camp that didn’t do “official transcripts”, but in that case her high school just took the grade sheet my D received and scanned/sent it as well. I will add that in neither case did my kids’ high school accept the outside credits… but they were willing to deal with the transcripts so it all goes to the colleges at once. Now… not all high schools will do this. But in general colleges want official transcripts when possible. So sending a photocopy won’t do for things like outside college credits most of the time. Ask the college if you are not sure what to do.</p>
<p>The only other thing we have been asked to mail was one college that wanted a writing sample, and they gave a mailing address option. But they also had an option to scan & send a .pdf, so D just did that.</p>
<p>Finally, if your school uses Naviance, they probably will upload teachers recommendations, transcripts, etc. to the Common App through that. In my kid’s case, they were also willing to upload an “out of school” recommendation for one college that my D wanted to use. In that case, I think D’s guidance counselor got the info from her on the outside recommender and worked with them to get the recommendation into Naviance. So it could have been sent by snail mail… but was not.</p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Oh wow thanks for the very thorough response! That seems to have covered most of my questions.</p>
<p>I contacted the universities about my ‘outside’ of high school marks and they will accept those. My high school also accepts, and accredits those, but not on official transcripts… Its confusing, but basically I just get my 5 credits, and if it is a grade 12 course, the diploma mark is the only thing used.</p>
<p>But again thanks for the input!</p>