Student and Parent Brag Sheets, Requesting Transcripts, and Teacher Recommendations

Student and Parent Brag Sheets for Your Counselor Letter

The information that students and parents provide on the Student and Parent Brag Sheet helps your counselor write your counselor letter, a document required by most colleges.
(Note: the counselor letter is not "requested" in Naviance like teacher recommendations; it is one of the school documents sent with your transcript.)

How to find the Student and Parent Brag Sheets: From your Naviance home page, in the top bar, click on "About Me" => Surveys from Your School => "Class of 2025 Student Brag Sheet" and "Class of 2025 Parent Brag Sheet"

It is a good idea to work on the Student and Parent Brag Sheets in a Word or Google doc and then paste them into the surveys in Naviance for two reasons:
  1. it will be good to keep your answers to these questions more accessible in case you find them useful in your college applications and
  2. Naviance may "time out" as you are working, and you may lose your work.

Here are the questions for the Student Brag Sheet and the Parent Brag Sheet.

At least thirty (30) days before your first application deadline, you must have done the following:

  1. Completed your Student Brag Sheet in Naviance to provide information for your counselor recommendation
  2. Requested your transcripts using the paper form and in Naviance
  3. Requested teacher recommendations in Naviance

 

 

 

Transcript Requests: Two Steps

Timeline: After September 1, 2024, and at least 30 days before your first college application deadline

1) Request Your Transcripts and Counselor Letter on the Paper Transcript Request Form

Due date: At least 30 days before your first college application deadline.

Fill out the blue paper transcript request form listing the college name, method of application, and application deadline they have chosen. Paper transcript request forms are available in the counselors' suite (Room 105) and in the College and Career Center (Room 108A) and should be returned to the student's counselor.

2) Request Your Transcripts in Naviance

Due date: At least 30 days before your first college application deadline.

Complete these steps in Naviance:

  • Log into Naviance through clever.com.
  • Click on "Colleges" and then "Colleges I’m Applying To." You will see your list of colleges.
  • Double check all of the deadlines for each college to make sure they are correct. All deadlines should be "Fall 2025" deadlines.
  • Each college has a check box on the left side. If you are ready to request that your transcript be made available to this college, click the check box.
  • At the top right above your list of colleges, click on "Request transcripts."
  • For the type of transcript, choose "Initial Transcript."

Teacher Letters of Recommendation

Ask the teacher if they will write a letter of recommendation for you before "requesting" it in Naviance. See more about teacher letters below.

How to Request Teacher Letters of Recommendation in Naviance

Timeline: After September 1, 2024, and at least 30 days before your first college application deadline
  • Step 1: Log in to Naviance through clever.com.
  • Step 2: Click on Colleges and then Colleges Home.
  • Step 3: Scroll down, and on the left side click on “Letters of Recommendation” in the “Apply to Colleges” section.
  • Step 4: You can now click “Add Request” or view the requests you have already submitted.
  • Step 5: After clicking “Add Request,” follow the directions given and answer all the questions.
    • General request: This letter will be available for all schools on your Colleges I'm Applying to list, current and future.
    • Specific request: This letter will only be available to the schools you choose. If you add a new school to your Colleges I'm Applying to list, you will have to make the specific request again for that school.

About Teacher Letters of Recommendation

Why do colleges ask for teacher recommendations? Information about you from teachers gives colleges insight into who you are as an individual, your work ethic, and how you approach problem solving.

  • Ideally, at the end of your junior year, you were able to ask two teachers if they would be willing to write teacher recommendations for you.
  • The teachers who write your recommendations should generally be teachers you had in 10th or 11th grade (since you have probably changed a lot since 9th grade) and from two different core subjects, although this could vary depending on what college majors you are interested in.
  • Some teachers set a limit on how many recommendations they will write each year. If the teacher you ask says no, just thank them and move on to another teacher.

IMPORTANT NOTE: All teacher recommendations must be requested in Naviance. Do not request teacher recommendations in the Common App.