Help Center

PrivateFolio is a secure online dossier service for students applying to graduate, medical, and professional programs and for advisors who assist with these applications.

• Request confidential letters of recommendation from your writers
• Upload supporting documents (transcripts, personal statements, etc.)
• Deliver letters and application packets to schools via application portals, email, or US Mail
• Use unique email addresses assigned to letters so portals like AMCAS and AACOMAS can receive letters directly from PrivateFolio

1. Go to privatefolio.com and click Log In in the header.
2. Enter your email address and password.
3. Click Sign In.

Use "Forgot password?" on the login page if you need to reset. A reset link arrives within a few minutes — check your spam folder if you don't see it.

The PrivateFolio login page

Your dashboard is your home base. From here you can:

• Request New Letter — send a request to a recommender
• Upload Document — add a file to your dossier
• New Delivery — send materials to a school or program
• See your letter counts, pending requests, and recent delivery history

Your student dashboard

To request a letter:

1. Click Letters in the navigation menu.
2. Click the + Request New Letter button.
3. Fill in the form:
4. Check the FERPA waiver box (required — confirms the letter is confidential).
5. Click Send Request.

Form fields:

• Letter title — a label for your reference, e.g., "Dr. Smith – Research Supervisor"
• Due date — when you need the letter by
• Writer details — full name, email, job title, institution, and phone. (Note - phone number is required by some application portals. If you don't have a letter writer's personal phone, you can enter their institution phone number or the phone number for your advising office.)
• Writer type — whether they are science faculty, an MD/DO, etc.
• Optional message — context or reminders for the writer

Your recommender receives an email with a secure link to upload their letter. The request appears as "Pending" on your Letters page.

Letter request form — top: title, due date, writer details

Letter request form — bottom: writer type, FERPA waiver, Submit button

Once your writer submits a letter, PrivateFolio assigns it a unique email address in the format send######.LastName###@privatefolio.com (e.g. send207514.Einstein514@privatefolio.com). These email addresses are used to connect your letters with application portals.

When a portal (AMCAS, AACOMAS, etc.) asks for your letter writer's contact email, enter that unique address — not your recommender's personal email.

You'll find each letter's unique email on your Letters page, displayed next to that letter's title. Click the copy icon to copy it.

Letters page — each on-file letter shows its unique send address

AMCAS and AACOMAS accept letters via email upload. Here's how it works:

1. On your AMCAS or AACOMAS application, enter your letter's unique email address as the contact email for that letter writer.
2. The portal sends an upload request to that address.
3. PrivateFolio receives the request and emails you a confirmation that we're working on it.
4. We upload the letter to the portal on your behalf.
5. You receive a second email confirming that the delivery is complete.

1. From your dashboard, click New Delivery to go to the delivery initiation page.
2. Click Request TMDSAS Packet Transmittal.
3. Select the appropriate packet.
4. Click the Confirm & Submit button.

TMDSAS packet transmittal request

No. Letters are confidential. You can see that a letter is "on file" and track whether it has been delivered, but you cannot open or download the letter itself.

This is by design — most application portals require confidential letters and you waive all rights of access when making a letter request on our platform.

1. Ask your writer to check their spam or junk folder for an email from PrivateFolio.
2. From your Letters page, find the pending request and use the Send Reminder option to resend the email.
3. If the email address you entered had a typo, cancel the request and submit a new one with the correct email.

If the issue persists, your letter writer can email us the letter directly at help@privatefolio.com. You can also contact us with your writer's name and we'll assist.

The Letters page showing a pending request

1. Go to Letters in the navigation menu.
2. Find the letter request you want to update and click on it to open the detail view.
3. Click the Edit icon next to the letter title.
4. Type the new title and save.

1. Go to Letters in the navigation menu.
2. Find the letter request and click on it to open the detail view.
3. Click the Edit icon next to the due date.
4. Select the new date and save.

You can upload the full range of academic application materials:

• Transcripts (official or unofficial)
• CV or resume
• Personal statement, statement of purpose, or diversity statement
• Writing samples or research papers
• Teaching statement, cover letters, certifications
• AMCAS Letter Request Form and other portal-specific supplements

Accepted formats: PDF, DOC, DOCX, or images (JPG, PNG). Maximum file size is 4 MB; large images are auto-compressed.

1. Go to Dossier in the navigation menu.
2. Enter a document title (e.g., "Transcript – Spring 2024"). This is your reference label.
3. Optionally select a document type from the dropdown (e.g., Transcript, Personal Statement).
4. Click Choose file and select your file, or drag and drop it into the upload area.
5. Click Upload Document.

The document appears immediately in the "Your Documents" list below the form.

The dossier page with the upload form

1. From your dashboard, click New Delivery.
2. Choose Email (electronic delivery) or US Mail (requires an extra processing fee).
3. Enter the recipient's name, institution, and email address.
4. Select which documents and letters to include.
5. Arrange them in order (drag to reorder if needed).
6. Review the summary and optionally preview the PDF.
7. Click Send.

You'll receive a confirmation email. Check delivery status from your account page.

Starting a new delivery — choose email or US Mail

We support all major U.S. application portals. When a portal asks for your letter writer's contact email, enter the unique email assigned to that letter:

• Health professions: AMCAS, AACOMAS, AADSAS, CASPA, PharmCAS, PTCAS, NursingCAS, TMDSAS
• Law: LSAC
• Public health: SOPHAS
• Graduate school portals that accept uploads

We also deliver to international institutions by email.

• Email deliveries to institutions: often within minutes, though some may be queued for review.
• Portal uploads (AMCAS, AACOMAS, etc.): typically 1–2 business days, often same day.
• US Mail: 5–10 business days depending on destination.

During peak application season (June–September for medical schools), portal deliveries may take slightly longer. You receive an email when each delivery is confirmed.

There are two ways to access the upload form:

• From the request email: click the secure upload link. No account or password required — it takes you directly to the upload form for that request.
• From your account: log in at privatefolio.com with your email (to which the student sent the request) and the password provided in the first email you received from us, then find the request on your dashboard and click Upload Letter If you cannot find your original password, click the Forgot Password link on the sign in page to obtain a new one.

Letter upload page

• Preferred: PDF — preserves formatting and is accepted by all portals
• Also accepted: Word (.doc, .docx), text files, JPG/PNG images
• Maximum size: 4 MB. Large images may be auto-compressed.

Letters are converted to PDF before delivery. Most effective letters are 1–3 pages on official letterhead.

No. The secure link in the request email works without any account or password. Just click the link and upload directly.

If you want to log in to manage all your requests, log in using the email address to which the student sent the request and your password.

Before submitting you must check a box confirming the letter:

• Signed — has your handwritten or digital signature
• Dated — shows the date it was written
• On letterhead (when applicable) — uses your institution's official letterhead

These are standard requirements. If you are an independent professional without formal letterhead, a date and signature are still required.

The letter upload form — check the confirmation box before submitting

After upload we run an automatic signature and date check. If we can't clearly detect a signature or a date, you'll see a review message.

What to do:

• Preview the letter to check whether your signature and a date appears.
• If the letter is signed and dated, click Keep current letter. The check isn't perfect and can miss digital or stylized signatures.
• If the letter is not signed or dated, click Add Signature or Date which will allow you to immediately fix the letter within our platform, or click Upload New Letter and submit a signed and dated version.

Add signature to your letter

Signature added to letter

Yes. From your writer dashboard, open the completed request and use the update/replace option to upload a revised version.

You may be asked by a student's advisors to re-submit a letter if some critical piece of information is missing.

• Ask the student to send a reminder from their Letters page — the reminder email contains the upload link.
• Log in to privatefolio.com with the email the student used for you. You'll find the request on your writer dashboard.
• Contact us via the contact form — or email us the letter at help@privatefolio.com. Include the student's full name and we'll add the letter manually within one business day.

The most common causes:

• File too large — must be 4 MB or smaller. Compress the PDF or reduce image resolution.
• Wrong file type — use PDF, Word (.doc/.docx), or an image file.
• Confirmation box not checked — you must check "I confirm this letter is signed, dated, and on letterhead" before submitting.

If you've checked all of the above and still can't submit, contact us with the student's name and we'll assist directly.

1. On the login page, click Forgot password?
2. Enter the email address associated with your account.
3. Click the reset link in the email you receive (valid for one hour).
4. Set your new password.

If you don't see the email, check your spam folder. If you still can't find it, confirm you're using the correct email address for your account.

Go to Account Settings from your dashboard. You can update your name, contact information, and password at any time.

Changing your primary email address requires verification — we'll send a confirmation link to the new address before the change takes effect.

Account settings page

When you request a letter, you waive your right to view it — standard practice so recommenders write candidly and institutions trust the letters.

• Letters are submitted only by the writer via a secure, personalized link
• All files are encrypted at rest and transmitted via TLS
• Only authorized personnel involved in processing deliveries can access letter content
• Comprehensive audit logs record all access events

Yes. PrivateFolio is built in compliance with FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). We include appropriate confidentiality notices with all deliveries and maintain proper access controls and audit logs for all advisor and personnel access.

The fastest way to reach us is through our contact form. We typically respond within one business day.