The Common Application

The Common Application is a centralized application that students can complete for over 400 different colleges and as of today, August 1st, it is now updated and released for the Class of 2011 to begin working on their applications. The colleges that participate in this application method commit to treating applications received through the Common App with the same consideration as if students had applied through the institutions idividual application. This will generally mean that you have to spend less time filling out all of the basic information about yourself and can mean that you have fewer essays to write (but maybe not).

On the common app there are two essays - one short answer (150 words) and one long essay which is to answer one of the following questions:
- Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
- Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
- Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
- Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
- A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
- Topic of your choice.

Then, the "tricky" part of it all is that many of the schools will also have supplements required which are other questions of their own that they want students to complete. Sometimes it is just simple questions that weren't covered on the common app, but would have been if you had applied through their individual application, but often times it includes short or long answer essays. Be aware and be prepared for that when completing your application. Over the next few weeks I will be reviewing the supplements required by the colleges for schools I know my students are interested in attending. I also warn you to double check and make sure that the supplement's are for the current year as sometimes there is a bit of a lag in supplement essay questions being posted.

Not all schools use the common app - there are 18 Ohio schools which utilize the common application, but as you are getting ready to start applications for the schools you are considering it is worth your time to look and see if more than one school uses the common app.

If you are using the Common App as a tool to apply, please take a moment and read this article about Summarizing Your Activities on the Common Application.