Common App for recommenders helps you organize and submit letters of recommendation. Here, you can track requests, manage your school's information, and submit transcripts.
Accessing Your Account
Create an Account
If you’re new to the Recommendation Portal, follow the steps below to create your account.
Enter the email address to which your applicant sent the recommendation request. You must use that email address in order to link your account to your applicant’s request. This will be your username.
Enter and confirm a secure password. We recommend using a strong password that contains a mix of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters.
Review the Terms of Use and click the I agree to the Terms of Use checkbox.
Complete the fields in the Basic Information section. First name and last name are required.
Complete the fields in the Professional Information section. Note that these are all optional and can be updated later.
Click Create Account.
Access an Existing Account
If you've used the Recommendation Portal before (or used the previous Evaluator Portal), follow the steps below to access your account.
Click the link in the email you received.
Enter your username and password on the Welcome page.
If you used the previous Evaluator Portal, enter your username and password for that site.
If you created a new account in the Recommendation Portal, enter your email address as the username.
Click Log In.
If you forgot your password, review the Reset Your Password section for instructions on retrieving it.
Reset Your Password
Click the Forgot your password? link on the Welcome page.
Enter the email address you used to create your account in the Email field.
Click Send.
Follow the instructions in the email you receive to reset your password. You must create and confirm a password that is a minimum of eight characters and includes a number and capital letter.
Completing a Recommendation
All your recommendation requests appear on the Requests page. Use the filters on the left to sort the requests and view more or less of their details. Requests are categorized and color-coded by current status:
Requested: a yellow status indicates a new request that you have not yet accepted. Your next step is to accept it.
Accepted: an orange status indicates that you accepted the applicant's recommendation request. Your next step is to complete it.
Completed: a green status indicates that you completed the applicant's recommendation. No further action is needed, but you can review your recommendation.
Declined: a purple status indicates that you declined the applicant's request.
Expired: a grey status indicates that the applicant's request has expired.
Review the Request
To begin your recommendation, click the Start button next to the applicant's name on the Requests page. Review the information provided by the applicant on the left-hand side of the page:
Type: indicates the type of request.
Access: indicates whether the applicant waived their right to access their completed recommendations.
Applicant Email: email address provided by the applicant. Use this email address if you need any additional information from the applicant.
Requested On: the date on which the applicant sent the recommendation request.
Requested By: the date on which the applicant requests the recommendation be complete.
Applying To: the programs the applicant is applying to along with relevant association(s), if applicable.
Be sure to also review any notes from the applicant at the top of the page which may contain specific instructions.
Write the Recommendation
Depending on the program(s) the applicant is applying to, you may be prompted to complete one or more of the following assessments.
Relationship
Use the drop-downs and fields to answer questions regarding your relationship with the applicant.
Essay
Use the text box to respond to essay/short-answer questions about the applicant. We recommend typing your response directly into the text box and using simple formatting.
If you are copying/pasting content from somewhere else, be aware that the formatting may not copy over correctly. To fix this, remove the formatting by first pasting the content into a text editor such as Notepad, then pasting it into this text box. Or, if you're using Google Chrome as your browser, right-click the text box and select "Paste as plain text."
Likert Criteria
Provide your ratings for the listed criteria. Click the information icon under each rating to view more details about it. To select a rating, click the blue slider and drag it to the desired rating.
Overall Recommendation
Select your overall recommendation for the applicant from the Recommendation Concerning Admission drop-down.
Upload Letters
You can upload one document to support your recommendation of the applicant. Documents must be in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx), Portable Document Format (.pdf), Rich Text Format (.rft), or Plain Text (.txt) format.
You can upload documents in two ways:
Locate the file on your computer and click and drag it to the field labeled Drop files here to attach, or
Click the Click to browse link in the field and locate and select the file on your computer.
Submit Your Recommendation
Click Preview & Submit to review and submit your recommendation. Your recommendation and, if applicable, letter appear in a preview window. If the recommendation and uploaded document look correct, click Yes, Upload It to proceed. Otherwise, click No, Cancel Upload to return to the request.
Alternatively, click Save or Save & Exit to save a draft version of your recommendation. You can then resume and submit it at a later time.
Reuse Recommendations
Some Centralized Application Services (CASs) collect recommendations through the Program Materials section using specific recommendation types (e.g., academic, personal, etc.). When your CAS uses this feature, you can automatically reuse a completed recommendation for an applicant who requests you complete additional recommendations that are the same type as the original. Once you’ve activated this option, any time the same applicant requests the same recommendation type for an additional program, the system automatically completes the recommendation and submits it.
You can view on the Requests page if the recommendation has been reused, and if so, for which programs. You will also receive an email every Friday with this information. You can turn off this feature at any time.
To use this feature:
Complete the Write the Recommendation and Submit Your Recommendation steps, outlined above, for an applicant's first recommendation request.
After clicking Submit on the Recommendation Preview page, select if you want this recommendation to be automatically submitted for any incomplete and future recommendation requests of the same type for this applicant. Note that if you select Yes, you can't review or edit the recommendation before it is submitted for any future recommendation request.
Click Continue.
On the Requests page, you can choose to activate or deactivate recommendation reuse by clicking Reuse or Stop Reusing, respectively, for each applicant's completed recommendation request.
If you choose to use this feature, we recommend that when you complete the recommendation form, you keep it generic so it can be reused for any program at any school an applicant may apply to.
Decline Recommendations
You can decline recommendation requests in Requested or Accepted status as necessary. Please note that you cannot undo this action.
Click the Decline link next to the applicant's name.
Enter an optional note explaining why you are declining the request.
Click Decline.
Review Completed Recommendations
To review a completed recommendation, click the Completed checkbox on the left side of the Requests page. Then, locate the applicant in the list. Click Download PDF to view a PDF version of the recommendation. You can also download or print a version of the recommendation by hovering your mouse over the top of the document and clicking the Download or Print icons.
The file you're attempting to upload, if applicable.
Why don't I see my applicant's request?
The applicant may have listed a different email address than the one you used to create your account. Contact the applicant and ask them to change the email address listed on their application. Or, create a new account using the email address the applicant listed.
What browser should I use?
For the optimum experience, we recommend using the most current version of Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome, which work on both PCs and Macs.
I accidentally declined a request. What do I do?
Contact the applicant and ask them to delete the recommendation request and add a new one. This will reset the recommendation request.
Is there really a due date? Can I submit my recommendation after the date listed?
The applicant enters the "due date" for the requested recommendation. It may or may not be the same date as the actual deadline. If the due date has passed, submit your recommendation and contact the applicant to confirm deadline dates.
Why won't my document upload?
Check that your document is in an accepted file format: Microsoft Word document, PDF, Rich Text Format (.rtf), or Plain Text file (.txt). Other file types are not accepted, including those created using very old versions of Word.
Make sure that your document is 5 MB or smaller. If it's too large, compress it before uploading.
If you printed and scanned your letter, check whether it is saved as an image file (e.g., JPG or PNG format). If so, convert it to a PDF before uploading.
I tried to submit my recommendation, but the page seems to load and load without ever completing. What's going on?
Try switching browsers. For the optimum experience, we recommend using the most current version of Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome, which work on both PCs and Macs.
Please also note that we recommend using this site on a computer. If you're using a tablet or other mobile device, switch to a computer to complete the upload process.
Community Based Organization (CBO) FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Common App define a CBO?
CBOs are non-profit or government-funded organizations or programs that help students become college-ready. They do not charge for their services and often serve students from historically marginalized communities.
Where do CBOs appear in the application?
There is a group of CBO questions within the Academic History section of the application. The CBO section prompts students to share up to 3 CBOs that helped them with the application process.
For each CBO, students select the organization from our list of 200+ CBOs. If an organization is not listed, students can select an "other" option and enter the CBO's name. Students may also optionally share the name, email, and phone number of a counselor, advisor, or mentor from the selected CBO.
How can I get the Common App to add my CBO to the application?
First, double-check that your organization isn't already on the list using the CBO list PDF or spreadsheet. If your organization is not there, you can use our CBO list request form. A member of our Education and Training team will follow up with you.
The file you're attempting to upload, if applicable
You can also schedule a consultation appointment with our Customer Service team. Use this form to submit a best day and time for us to meet with you.
Privacy Policy
Review Liaison's privacy policy to learn our policies and procedures on the collection, use, and disclosure of your information: https://www.liaisonedu.com/privacy-policy/.
