How will I understand whether my Teacher has successfully uploaded the recommendation letter?
In my account I can see ‘Started’ written beside the Teacher’s name.
Is your school on Naviance? If so, then I’m pretty sure you can tell when the letter has been uploaded.
But a word of caution: I know that some years I have 38 or 40 letters to write. And that if I write more than 2 or 3 a day, they’ll start to sound way too similar to each other.
So be patient. Your brag sheet simply may not be on top of the pile.
Your teachers are professionals. This isn’t their first rodeo, though it is yours-- they write letters every single school year and are well aware of the deadlines. School started last week in much of the country-- I gave my first quiz on Friday after 3 days of classes. So be patient.
If it still says “started” as the deadline starts to approach, speak to your guidance counselor about your concerns. He or she will be on top of both of the teachers who are submitting letters for you.
Also, keep in mind that schools may not forward their package (counselor rec, transcript, teacher recs, etc) until after you have submitted your CommonApp to a particular college. Colleges can receive these AFTER the “deadline”…as long as you have submitted your CA by the deadline, they will have created an admissions file for you, and they know the school package will follow shortly.
I absolutely do not recommend waiting until the last minute, but you don’t need to worry that everything needs to be there on the deadline date. Follow-up to make sure everything is in order and on the way, but most high schools/counselors have been doing this for many years and they know how to get it done.