School Forms for the 2008-2009 Common Application Online.

School Forms for the2008-2009 Common Application

Online

(c) Copyright 2008 Hobsons, inc. All rights reserved. This document contains proprietary information and may not be copied without written permission from Hobsons, Inc.

Common App Online

Mission

o Not-for-profit membership association – free to applicants and secondary schools

o Founded nearly 35 years ago (1975) with 15 members

o Currently ~350 members, nearly half exclusive users

o Mission to promote holistic admission – subjective & objective criteria – as path to college access

o Streamline the process for students applying to holistic colleges


School Forms Background

2007-08 - approximately 150 beta-testers 12,625 school forms submitted online via the Common App Online School Forms system

2008-09 Available to any secondary school in the world Entirely optional (counselor or teacher may “opt out” of the online system and submit via paper) Free of charge to all

Naviance Users Not Affected From the high school perspective, forms are still submitted via the Naviance tool From the college perspective, forms submitted via Naviance and the Common App are available in the same location


School Forms Background

Web-based training provided to Common App member schools to educate admissions staff on how to use the system

Training for high schools provided via regional ACAC meetings, Powerpoints, and instructional demos (under development)


Agenda

Applicant Side

Adding an Official

Attaching Officials to Apps

Objectives

Enter and affiliate

school officials with applications

Login as a school official and view reports/evaluations

School Official Side

My Profile

Overview

My Students

Reports


Overview

Students enter the names and email addresses of their counselor and teacher(s). Students assign teachers to the appropriate individual schools.

Counselors and teachers receive an email with their login information to a web-based online school forms system. Evaluations for all counselees/students managed via the same login and the same online interface.

Colleges receive submitted school forms via the same web-based system used to process online Common Applications. School forms can be printed on demand or via an automated process.


Overview

Secondary School Report Packet Transcript School Profile

Midyear Report Transcript

Final Report Transcript

ED Agreement International Supplement to the SSR Homeschool Supplement to the SSR

Teacher Recommendation

Documents that may be submitted online via the new school forms system:


The Student View

Applicants must firstidentify the high school they currently attend (or from which they graduated) in the Academics section of the Common App Online.


The Student View

The student can next click on the School Forms link in the left-hand navigation.

If the student attends a Naviance high school, then the PDF school form documents are presented for downloading. Counselors and teachers can then use the Naviance tool to submit the forms online or submit on paper.


The Student View

If the student attends a high school that does not use Naviance, then clicking on the School Forms link will allow the student to identify school officials—counselors and teachers—who will submit recommendations via the online system.

Click on “Invite” to add a new teacher or counselor.


Assigning an OfficialOnce the required information has been filled out on the School Official Details page, officials can then be assigned to schools in Step 2 of this page.


Assigning an OfficialOnce the required information has been filled out on the School Official Details page, officials can then be assigned to schools in Step 2 of this page.

If the student selects “Teacher” a dynamic subject question appears.


Assigning an Official

Once the required information has been filled out on the School Official Details page, officials can then be assigned to schools in Step 2 of this process.

One counselor and multiple teachers can be identified for School Forms (depending onthe requirements ofeach member school).


Email to Officials

When students add a teacher or a counselor to their application, those individuals receive an email containing a URL, a personal access code and a password.


School Official LoginClicking on the email link brings teachers to the login page with their Personal Access Code already typed in.


School Official Login

As in the student side, site navigation is accomplished through the left-hand navigation bar, beginning with instructions at the top.


My Profile

The My Profile page contains contact information for both the individual and the school.


My Profile – Part II

Counselors will also be required to answer some profile information about their school.


My Students

Each time this counselor is added to an application, a new student will appear in the “My Students” page and the counselor will get a notification email. The login information will be the same for all your students as long as your students enter the same email address for you.


My Students Detail

By clicking on any student’s name, the counselor is brought to the Student Details Page, where they can see the complete list of schools and associated deadlines for the student.


Report Order

Counselors may not open the Reports out of sequence. Example: the Mid Year Report must be submitted before the Final Report is active.


Secondary School Report

Here the counselor will answer required questions about both the school and the student before moving on to submission.


Submission

A confirmation message is displayed after submission and the Mid Year Report is now an active link.


Teacher View – Student DetailWhen Teachers log into the site, they will have only one evaluation form to fill out per student.


Teacher Evaluations

Within the evaluation form, teachers enter ratings, respond to short-answer questions and upload a recommendation.


Uploading a Document Within the Secondary School Report, the Midyear Report, and the Final Report, counselors can upload a copy of the student’s transcript.

The transcript must be available in a digital format. Supported document types include PDF files, Word documents, and Excel spreadsheets. Most transcript systems can output a transcript to one of these digital format types.

If your transcript system cannot, your other option is to use a scanner to scan your transcript into a digital format. Most scanners are able to scan a document into a PDF format.

Both counselor and teachers can choose to upload their letter of recommendation rather than typing it into a field on the screen. Supported document types include Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, Text, Rich Text Format (RTF), and PDF. All formatting (e.g., bolding, italics, etc.) is retained.


Uploading a Document

Click on the button to bring up the “File Upload” screen. Click “Browse” to locate a

file and then “Upload” once again.New buttons will now appear next to “Upload Document.”

Click on “View Document” to see the uploaded document.

1)

2)

3)

4)


Printing

Once complete, print a copy for your records. Common App member schools will be able to print out and download the submitted PDF files.


Items to note

If you do not want to submit the forms online, you will be able to “opt out” of the online process, though you cannot “opt in” for some students and not for others.

The online system for counselors is “all or nothing.” In other words, if you cannot upload a transcript, you will need to complete all forms on paper.

One submission for all colleges; cannot change the content of SSR, Teacher Evaluation, etc. per school.

Forms will not be available to an institution until the student's Common App is submitted.

Once you have submitted a form, you do not have to worry about submitting that form again. If a student applies to a new school, your SSR, Teacher Evaluation, etc. will automatically be available to the new institution.


Items to note

For counselors, there is no access to the student's application, the student's personal checklist, or the student's teacher recommendations.

No support for additional transcript transmissions beyond the three attached to the SR, MR, and FR or making changes after the SSR is submitted.

There is not an email notification when a student adds a school to their list of My Colleges. There are also no auto-reminder emails when a MYR and/or FYR is due.

Technical support is available via email and a web-based “ticket” system. Forgotten user names and passwords can also be retrieved automatically.

General school information (e.g., AP courses offered, grading system) only needs to be entered one time; you do not have to type in this data or upload a school profile for each student.


Tips

Since the system recognizes each counselor/teacher based upon the email address entered by the student, it is important for you to communicate to your students the email address you want them to use.

When entering in a school official, the system will provide a reminder to the applicant to speak first with the counselor/teacher before adding him/her name in the system. That said, it is probably good for you to emphasize the procedure you want your students to follow with your group of counselees.

If the student has already completed the senior year courses portion of the Common App, that information will pre-populate within the Secondary School Report. You may want to instruct your counselees to enter their course information before identifying you as their counselor to reduce your work.


School Forms for the2008-2009 Common Application

Online

http://www.commonapp.org/

School Forms for the 2008-2009 Common Application Online.

Documents

Transcript of School Forms for the 2008-2009 Common Application Online.