Students: Common App Student FAQ

What am I supposed to do in MajorClarity?

MajorClarity has teamed with Common App to help connect you with your teachers to complete your Common App applications. You'll complete most of your application on the Common App site, but there are a few steps you need to take in MajorClarity. Here are the basics of how you use MajorClarity to complete your Common App:
  1. Go to the App Center in MajorClarity and connect your Common App account. Make sure you've already completed your FERPA waiver on the Common App site before you proceed to step 2.
  2. Next, assign your counselor. They'll complete the important forms that contain things like your transcript.
  3. For any school that requires a Teacher Evaluation, you'll use MajorClarity to invite teachers to complete the form by assigning them to each school that requires it. Don't use MajorClarity's Recommendation Letter Request for this -- just use the 'Request Teacher Evaluation' action for the school that should receive their evaluation.
  4. Check back in after the first semester to make sure your counselor completes the Mid Year Report if it's required.
  5. Let your counselor know which college should receive your Final Report. This goes to the school you've decided to attend.

How do I send my transcript with my Common App applications?

Transcripts are sent as part of the School Report and Final Report that your counselor completes, as well as the Mid Year Report if it is required. This means that you only need to assign your counselor in order for your transcript to be sent to your schools of choice.
 
Some students may see an additional 'Transcript Request' section in MajorClarity. This section is not for applications submitted through the Common App. Do not request a transcript specifically for a Common App school.
 

How do I correct an incorrectly assigned counselor or teacher?

If you’ve accidentally assigned the wrong Counselor or chosen the wrong Teacher to a college’s Teacher Evaluation, reach out to the Counselor or Teacher assigned in error and ask them to unassign you. Since Teacher Evaluators are selected per college, you’ll need to specify if they should unassign you from a specific college application or all college applications.
 
If they’ve already submitted forms on your behalf, it may be too late to change the Counselor or Teacher. If this is the case, or if a counselor assignment has changed mid-year due to staffing updates, you may be able to reach out to the Common App support team to update your assigned Counselor.
 

What if I can't find my teacher or counselor to invite them?

When using the invite teacher or invite counselor function, first make sure that you've spelled your teacher or counselor's full name correctly or try to only enter part of their last name.
 
If you're still unable to locate them, it may be because they work for another school that isn't using MajorClarity to submit Common App documents. If you still want this teacher to submit a teacher evaluation for you, you will need to download the Teacher Evaluation PDF from your Common App account and request that they send it to each college directly. If you only need a letter of recommendation from this teacher, and don't need to fulfill a Teacher Evaluation requirement or can have a teacher at your school fulfill that, then you may be able to invite them as an "Other Recommender" provided the college you're applying to accepts this recommendation type. Other Recommenders must be invited directly through the Common App site.
 

I already added my counselors/teachers via the Common App platform; do I still need to add them through MajorClarity?

Yes; recommenders will only be able to submit forms for your school through MajorClarity. However, due to having invited them on Common App previously, you’ll receive an error when trying to invite them to MajorClarity.
 
In order to resolve this issue, please reach out to MajorClarity support or Common App support.
 

I get an error when I try to add my counselor or teacher; what do I need to do?

This can occur when you have already invited a teacher or counselor via the Common App platform directly, or if someone else using a Common App integration has invited your teacher. Because your school is now using MajorClarity for counselor and teacher forms, these invitations will need to be reset so they can be sent via MajorClarity. This will require a support request -- please reach out to MajorClarity support or Common App support.
 

I connected the wrong Common App account! How do I switch to the right one?

This can be corrected via a MajorClarity or Common App support request. We can reset the connection between MajorClarity and Common App so that you can log in with the correct account. If any forms have been submitted, this may take up to 24 hours. Once you reconnect with the correct account, counselors/teachers will need to be reinvited and forms will need to be resubmitted.
 

Where do I sign the FERPA release authorization?

Students will submit the FERPA release authorization within their Common App account, not their MajorClarity account. The student must complete the education section within Common App first, add at least one college, then complete the FERPA waiver.
 
The FERPA release authorization is found within the Recommenders and FERPA section of the my colleges tab, and the 'release authorization' link must be checked with the FERPA decision. Students can only see the Recommenders and FERPA section once they've added at least one college to their application.
 
My counselor changed mid-year; how do I update the assigned counselor?
If the counselor hasn’t submitted any forms yet, the counselor can unassign a student within MajorClarity by going to the Common App Requests tab and clicking on the student’s name, then clicking “Unassign student.”
 
If the counselor has submitted forms, then a support request to MajorClarity support or Common App support will be required. Any documents submitted by the original counselor will remain submitted on the student’s behalf.
 

How do I request recommenders when teacher evaluations are not allowed by a school?

Some schools do not allow any 'Teacher Evaluations' to be submitted, but they do allow 'Recommendations' or 'Other Evaluations.' In these cases, you will need to use the Common App to request other recommenders, not MajorClarity. You can find this on the 'My Colleges' tab after selecting the Recommenders tab for the desired school. This will not count as a Teacher Evaluation if the school requires them.
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When a student requests an “Other Recommender” from Common App to invite a teacher not available in MajorClarity, will that satisfy the school’s requirement for Teacher Evaluators?

Common App uses an important distinction between Teacher Evaluators and "Other Recommenders". Many schools will require a certain number of Teacher Evaluations for an application to be considered complete. The primary way to add Teacher Evaluators is through MajorClarity directly, however students can have an external recommender download and complete the Teacher Evaluation PDF Form manually, if desired. The student can see this option within Common App directly (but not MajorClarity).
 
Separately, some schools will allow for "Other Recommenders" as well, but those do not satisfy the requirement for Teacher Evaluations. All "Other Recommenders" will go through Common App directly and can only be added to schools that allow/accept them (which can be determined by the student within their Common App account).
 

I have invited my teacher for Common App recommendation but they do not have any requests from me.

After inviting a teacher, students will need to assign them to a school and request an evaluation before the teacher sees that students info in the common app requests tab. This is a two step process:
  1. Inviting the teacher using the "Invite Teacher" button.
  2. Assigning the teacher to a school using the "Request Teacher Evaluation" action.
 

I took a gap year and now when I try to use the Common App, I'm being told to use MajorClarity for my forms. Can I?

Yes! Graduated students may log into MajorClarity using the 'Have you graduated?' link at platform.majorclarity.com. Once you're logged in, you may connect your Common App account and add your counselor/teachers so that they may fill out the forms you need to complete your Common App. Not sure what your password is? Reach out to support@majorclarity.com for help logging in.
 
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I graduated and took a gap year. Do I have to submit a Mid Year Report? When?

You and your counselor can see which forms are required for each school; either in Common App directly or in MajorClarity. If any of your schools require the Mid Year Report, we recommend submitting it. Since you already have your first trimester/semester grades available (when you completed them during your senior year last year), this form can be submitted as soon as the School Report is submitted. Your counselor will not receive a prompt to complete the Mid Year Report, so you'll need to request that they complete it.
 
Some colleges may have specific directions for high school graduates applying as first-years, but it's up to you to research/decide whether your application will be considered complete without submitting all forms marked as required.
 

Have my schools received my forms/transcripts yet?

As soon as you have submitted your application to a school, any forms submitted by your counselor or teacher(s) will be available to that school. The School Report, Mid Year Report, and Final Report contain your transcript. These forms are submitted once by your Counselor no matter how many schools you add to your list.
 
To review the submission status of your forms, you can go to one of two places: your Common App account or your MajorClarity Application Center. You can see the list of forms and whether or not they're required for that school after you click to expand one of the schools to which you applied.
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When a school has accessed your forms, the state of the form will change from 'Submitted' to 'Downloaded.' If you see the word 'downloaded' here, you can be sure that they have received the form and any information it contains (like a transcript, if it's one of the reports mentioned above).
 
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