A smarter way to manage college applications: See what’s new in Xello
Learn more about the new College Applications Dashboard in Xello—designed to improve the accessibility of critical planning tasks for educators and counselors.
Applying to college is one of the most exciting times in a student’s educational career, but it’s also one of the most stressful. The process has a lot of moving parts, most of which are new for students, and it’s not something they can complete on their own. Students need transcripts, letters of recommendations, and other forms submitted by specific deadlines. It’s a lot to manage.
Counselors and educators play an integral role in assisting students through this important milestone, which is why it’s a stressful time of year for them, too. They’re managing hundreds of moving pieces, while trying to support students. It’s not uncommon for educators to have multiple places where they manage documents, requiring them to switch between platforms and tools to complete different tasks.
This complexity makes it hard to truly help students. Counselors aren’t able to easily see what’s due, what’s overdue, or which application materials are still missing. With limited visibility, their workflows hinder their ability to fully support students, creating unnecessary confusion and anxiety during a critical planning period.
This “workflow gap” is what Xello set out to solve.
Xello’s College Applications Dashboard
The new College Applications Dashboard provides a centralized location for all college planning tasks—transcripts, letters of recommendation, and Common App forms—that are accessible to educators and counselors. This means that every student request can be found in one location, making it easier to assist students.
The Dashboard was built from real educator feedback and refined through nationwide feedback with the goal of making the application season smoother, more accurate, and easier for educators to manage at scale.
How it works: Key workflow improvements
Everything you need is in one place
When educators open the Application Manager, they’re immediately met with a clear, organized view of document requests — grouped by what’s due in the next seven days, overdue, or expired. Below that, initial, mid-year, and final requests are neatly laid out, so nothing gets lost in the shuffle.
Each section is organized into clearly labeled boxes, removing guesswork and helping educators quickly understand what needs attention. Just as importantly, the Application Manager brings transcripts, recommendations, fee waivers, and Common App materials together in one unified view — eliminating the need to jump between tools or tabs to manage a single application.
With everything organized in one place, educators can move more quickly and confidently through the application process. The College Applications Dashboard clearly shows what’s complete, what’s missing, and what needs attention — helping students stay on track for upcoming deadlines.
One consolidated list for every request
No matter how a request is sent—through Parchment, email, or the Common App—it now appears in a single, centralized list. That means no more digging through inboxes to find a request you glanced at between meetings (or while making dinner).
From this one screen, counselors can view requirements, check student progress, send transcripts, and upload or complete forms with ease. By removing the need to switch between systems, educators save time and reduce the risk of missing critical steps.
Smart filters to help staff focus
When I taught AP English, I remember keeping a list of students needing letters of recommendation on a post-it note on my desk. The smart filters–which provide educators the ability to filter by assignee, document type, send method, and requirements–eliminate the need for my archaic practices.
Smart filters allow educators to sort by assignee, document type, send method, and requirements — making it easy to focus only on the tasks relevant to their role. Teachers can concentrate on letters of recommendation, counselors can complete Common App forms, and transcript specialists can manage Parchment documents without wading through an overloaded, one-size-fits-all system.
Built in support for uploading and sending on behalf of students
Not every application task starts with the student. For school-initiated workflows, educators can turn to the Document Center, located under the College drop down in the left-hand menu.
From these centralized views, educators can upload and bulk send transcripts and recommendation letters through Parchment, as well as complete Common App forms without leaving Xello. Clear status indicators show when documents are ready to send, already submitted, or require follow-up—streamlining each step of the workflow while improving visibility, accuracy, and consistency across every submission.
Why it matters
When I think back to the time I spent writing and uploading letters of recommendation when I was a high school teacher, not to mention the last-minute requests I received from students who didn’t properly plan their application timeline, I’m reminded of how chaotic this process can be if not managed properly.
Xello’s College Applications Dashboard eliminates this chaos by streamlining the entire process.
Counselors will be able to go to one place to manage every application requirement. They’ll have clear visibility of deadlines, what’s missing, or ready to send. This aligned workflow, where they only see tasks assigned to them, means that they will have more time to truly support students.
Overall, Xello’s College Applications Dashboard makes for a smoother, less stressful application experience for everyone involved. Take a tour and see for yourself!
