College Application Procedures

Teacher Recommendations:
  1. Determine how many letters of recommendation the colleges you are applying to require and who you will ask to write your letters.
  2. DO NOT ask for more letters of recommendation than required by the colleges you are applying to.
  3. Note that the majority of colleges allow a counselor to send a letter that is from another school official instead of writing you a letter themselves, if you prefer.
  4. Ask for your letters as early as possible- preferably no later than 4 weeks before the deadline.
  1. Complete the Letter of Recommendation Form located in the College- Forms & Cheat Sheets folder in Naviance Document Resources. Provide it, along with a copy of your resume, to the teachers and/or counselor who you are asking to write a letter of recommendation.
  1. If your teacher/counselor agrees to write a recommendation for you, you must officially request the letter in Naviance. Go to the Colleges tab and select “Letters of Recommendation”. Click “Add Request”, fill out the form, and click “Save” to add requests for letters of recommendation.
  1. Make sure that all of the colleges you are applying to are also listed on Naviance under “Colleges I’m Applying To”.
  2. If you are applying to Common App schools, you will also need to match your Naviance and Common App accounts. If you need help doing this, there is a link for tutorial video on the bottom of the Naviance homepage.
  1. If you add additional schools to your list after your counselor/teacher has already sent letters for you, make sure that you ask them to send his/her letter to these additional schools.
  2. It is the student’s responsibility to check Naviance to make sure that his/her recommendations are sent on time.

Standardized Testing
  1. Check to see which of the schools you are applying to require the SAT/ACT.
  2. If you need to take the SAT/ACT, you must register approximately 1 month before the test date.
  3. Students taking the SAT/ACT who are applying to college Early Action or Early Decision should make sure to register for the first fall SAT/ACT that is offered.
  4. You can register for the SAT at During registration take advantage of your 4 free score reports.
  5. You can register for the ACT at
  6. You MUST send official scores from the appropriate testing agency ( or ) directly to individual colleges.
  7. It takes 3 weeks for scores to arrive at colleges, although they can be rushed for approximately $30.
  8. The School Counseling Office is not responsible for submitting SAT/ACT scores.

Applications
  1. To begin your applicationsfor schools that are Common application members, create an account at Otherwise, create an application account on the website of the college that you are applying to.
  2. Complete the Application Info.
  3. There is a College Application Cheat Sheet in the College- Forms and Cheat Sheets folder in Naviance Document Resources that may help you to answer some of the questions.
  4. If required, write your essay.
  5. Have your English teacher review and edit your essay.
  6. Attach your essay to your application.
  7. Submit your completed application, essay, and fee to your college online. If your application must be mailed, bring it to your School Counselor well in advance of the due date.

Transcripts
  1. Login to Naviance through the BVT Website. To get to the link, go to Student Links & Resources under the Parents & Students tab.
  2. Go to Colleges I’m Applying To under the Colleges tab and add your schools.
  3. Add the colleges you are applying to your list in this section. You can check that you would like to request your transcript as you are doing this.
  4. When a school is in your list, you can check whether your transcript is not requested, requested, or sent
  5. If you are applying to Common App schools, you will also need to match your Naviance and Common App accounts. If you need help doing this, there is a link for tutorial video on the bottom of the Naviance homepage.
  • It is the student’s responsibility to check Naviance to make sure that his/her transcripts are sent on time.
  1. If a college is already in your list, but you have not requested your transcripts yet, use the request transcripts link above your list of schools.