COUNSELOR Letter of REcommendation

• Not all colleges require a Counselor Letter of Recommendation to accompany your application. Check the freshman admission website for each college on your list to see if one is required.

• If a counselor letter is not required, ask your counselor if one is necessary to explain how your particular circumstances affected your academic record. Otherwise, do not ask for or send more letters than are required.

• Speak to your dean, AP, or counselor personally at the end of your junior year or by August or September of your senior year.

• Share the completed Letter of Recommendation Form (supplied by College Map Mentor) and your resume with the dean, AP, or counselor.

• When you request your Official Transcripts for college applications, indicate on the Transcript Request Record if you will require a Counselor Recommendation Letter for each college you are applying to.

• Submit these forms to your dean, AP, or counselor at least ONE MONTH before your earliest application deadline. 

On the rare occasion that your Counselor Letter must be mailed, include an envelope FOR EACH college that requires this form of submission:

• Place at least 3 stamps on the upper right-hand corner.

• Write the college admission office's full address (found on the college admissions website) in the middle of the envelope.

• Use the following for the sender's address (upper left corner):

• Your Counselor's Name + school address.

• Place all envelopes in a folder with your list of schools with addresses attached to the front along with your completed Letter of Recommendation Form (supplied by College Map Mentor) and your resume 

• School policy prohibits your counselor from giving you the recommendation letter, even in a sealed envelope. This confidentiality is required so that the colleges and other recipient organizations are ensured that your counselor's statements are a candid and forthright appraisal of your ability. To this end, you must sign the FERPA Agreement included in your college applications so that your materials will be provided to the colleges in a timely manner.

• Depending on your colleges' requirements, your counselor will submit your materials electronically or via mail before or on the application due date.

• Check your college's Common App "FERPA and Recommendations" section

If you applied through the Common App, the "FERPA and Recommendations" section for each college will display the status of each teacher letter you have requested through Fairview procedures. Note that the Common App provides this feature only if the teacher letter was required or specifically allowed as optional by the college through the Common App.

• Check with your teacher

Ask your teacher directly if your letter was sent to the colleges you listed in your communication.

• Check the application status website for your college

After you submit an application to a college, most will email you a link to a secure website with a login that allows you to check which required components of your application have been received or are still missing. You will not be able to use this system to check receipt of any letters that were not specifically required by the application. If you feel a need to verify receipt, call the college admissions office.

• Or call the college admissions office

Some colleges start a file for you as soon as they receive any application components, even prior to application submission. Call the college admissions department for more information.

• The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all high schools and colleges that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.

• All colleges will require you to sign a FERPA Waiver as part of the application process. For more information regarding the FERPA Waiver, including why you should sign it and how you might encounter it, click here.