This article is for school counsellors using Cialfo. It explains some general question circling around how Common App colleges appear on a student's Applying List through Auto Common App Sync, whether and how those colleges can be removed, and the trade-offs of turning the sync off.
How Common App colleges appear on the Applying List
When Auto Common App Sync is enabled for your school, the colleges a student adds to their Common App > My Colleges list are automatically pulled into that student's Applying List in Cialfo. This keeps cDocs document sending aligned with the student's Common App colleges. Automatic sync runs periodically (about every 4 hours); a manual Sync button on the student's cDocs Documents tab forces an immediate update.
Can a counsellor remove a synced Common App college?
While Auto Common App Sync is on, counsellors cannot directly remove a Common-App-synced college from a student's Applying List, even if the application has not yet been submitted. Because the list is tied to the Common App integration, the college must first be removed at the source:
Ask the student to remove the college from their Common App > My Colleges list.
The change then syncs to Cialfo automatically (allow up to ~4 hours), or you can click the manual Sync button on the student's cDocs Documents tab to update immediately.
This is the recommended approach because it keeps Cialfo and Common App consistent.
Is there any workaround to turn off Auto Common App Sync?
If you need to remove colleges directly from Cialfo, you can disable the sync first. The setting is under Configurations > Applications > Common App.
Go to Configurations > Applications > Common App and turn off the Auto Common App Sync option.
With sync disabled, you can manually remove the unsubmitted colleges from the student's Applying List.
Important trade-offs to be aware of:
If you turn the sync back on later, the Common App college list will sync again and the removed colleges may reappear.
While sync is off, any new colleges a student adds in Common App will not flow into Cialfo automatically — you will need to add them manually in Cialfo so that documents can be sent.
Is there a permanent counsellor override?
At present there is no permanent counsellor-side override that keeps a synced college removed while Auto Common App Sync remains on — the Applying List stays tied to the Common App integration. If this would help your workflow, let us know via Chat with Cialfo and we will pass the feedback to our product team.
Need more help?
Our Client Support team is available via Live Chat 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday, so you can get help anytime during the work week through Chat with Cialfo.
If you’re unable to find a solution in our help articles or need further assistance, you can contact the Cialfo Support team via Live Chat or email us at [email protected].