How To Connect Teachers With Common App

Students use both Common App and Xello to help track their college applications. For colleges that work with Common App, students send requests to educators to send application forms on their behalf. They request a counselor send their Counselor Forms, and a teacher send a Teacher Evaluation.

They'll continue to complete the rest of their application tasks directly in Common App, including building out their profile, creating the "My Colleges" list, and submitting the college application.

Once students have synced their accounts, the colleges they save in Common App will show in Xello. Students will also see all the colleges that use Common App by the logo next to the college name. By clicking on one of these schools, they can begin sending a request to an educator.

FERPA Authorization Release

Before students begin working with Common App in Xello, we recommend they first sign in to Common App and complete the following tasks:

In the My Colleges tab, add the colleges they plan to apply to.
Go to the Recommenders and FERPA section in any of their selected colleges.
Sign their FERPA Authorization Release.
They'll go to the My Colleges section of their Common App account and complete the Questions asking their preferred start term and admission plan.

Integrate with Xello

Once they've signed the FERPA Authorization Release, students can connect their Xello account to Common App.

How students integrate their Common App account with Xello:

From their Student Dashboard, under Goals & Plans, students click College Planning.
They click View My Applications to see their full list of colleges they're tracking.
At the top of the page, in the banner with the Common App logo, the student clicks Connect.

A pop-up will inform them they may need to redo tasks they've previously completed. This could include assigning a counselor or a requesting a Teacher Evaluation.
The Common App login page opens.

The student signs in to Common App (or creates a new account if they haven't yet).

Once they've successfully logged into Common App, they're redirected back to the page they left in Xello.
The banner at the top of the page now states the accounts are connected.

Linking Your Common App to Xello 1:19

Tip Tip: Share this short video with your students. Link to it on their Dashboard Resources, place it in an Assignment, or message the link to your student groups in Xello. This video is also available Spanish .