Common App went live today for the students in the Class of 2021. I have been on their website exploring and the updated site looks user-friendly and straight-forward. Granted, I say that having worked with the system a lot and I know that it isn't always quite as easy for all of you who will be working on applications for the first time.
In fact, let me back up a step... the Common Application is a centralized application that students can complete for over 850 different colleges using this one application. The colleges that participate in this application commit to treating applications received through the Common App with the same consideration as if students had applied through the institutions individual application or through the Coalition 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 is a 650 word essay that typically must be completed for all colleges, but you do have a choice about what essay to pick from a list of prompts. There are some colleges which will identify the essay as being optional. We probably need to talk about how "optional" the optional essay really is so before you decide to skip it completely, let's discuss it. And then for this year there is an "optional" COVID essay question of 250 words. The other optional essay is to give you the chance to explain any special circumstances. Most students won't need that one, but if you do, we have likely already talked about it previously.
One of the more confusing parts of the Common App for many students is that in addition to the main and COVID essays, many of the colleges 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 and read those questions in advance so you know what to expect. You will find this information under the "My Colleges" tab and then select each college down the left side of the page and click on "Questions" under both Application and Writing Supplement for each of the colleges where you will be applying.
Not all schools use the common app, but a lot of them do. There are 46 Ohio schools which will utilize the common application this year, so as you are getting ready to start applications for the schools you are considering it is worth looking to see if more than one school from your list utilizes the Common App.
I anticipate that I will be hosting zoom sessions to help walk interested groups of students through the Common App to be able to help you with specific details, but here are a few broad-overview things I want to make sure you are aware of to help as you are starting with your application...
- On the Explore section where you can look for colleges that use the Common Application there are search criteria filters that allow you to select colleges that don't require recommendation letters or don't require essays. Both are good to know if you are doing things at the last second, but for what it is worth, that is NOT the best way to select your future college. :-) It made me laugh though because I am sure there are plenty of kids who will use that to help narrow their options in finding a school.
- The general information that you will complete for all of the colleges is under the "Common App" tab.
- After you have selected your colleges and added them to your list you will see specific questions that each individual school wants to ask. You will find these specific questions and writing supplement pages for the individual colleges under the "My Colleges" tab.
- If you have attended WKHS for all 4 years of high school, then you entered Kilbourne in August 2017.
- Your graduation date is May 25, 2021. (Exciting!)
- It will ask you about other schools you have attended. Obviously, if you moved into Worthington you have other schools to list, but I also want to remind you that if you took summer classes through a different school district (such as TRECA or K-12) then you need to include that school on your common app form too.
- If you are a student who has or will be taking classes through College Credit Plus, you will list the schools in the Colleges and Universities section with the checkbox for "Dual Enrollment while in high school" marked. Don't forget - if you are taking COTC math classes along with CSCC English or Psych types of classes that you would have 2 colleges to list.
- I strongly encourage you to make a complete list of your activities and honors BEFORE attempting to fill out the Common App. For example, you will need to give a total number of your honors before you start naming them. If you haven't developed that resume list then you'll have a tough time filling it out.
- In the activities section, you can write about your top 10 activities. Be sure to put them in the order of importance to you. You can use the arrows to move them up or down if you get out of order.
- There is a student self-reporting transcript section called "Courses and Grades." Please know that your transcripts WILL STILL BE SENT to the colleges so you absolutely MUST be sure that you enter the information in the system exactly like it appears on your transcript. The good news is that once school starts again you will be able to download and print your transcript off of Infinite Campus to use when completing this section. It is very straight forward to use, but I have to admit that you will likely find it a bit tedious. For the record (although I suspect you know this), our grading scale is A-F and we are on semesters. Also, when you are filling out this section the "Other Courses" section is where you will list any high school classes that you completed during middle school or summer school.
- As you are working on each area there is a panel on the right side of the page titled "Help Center" and I found it helpful as I was going through the different areas. Some of the typical questions kids have asked me in the past as they are completing the Common App are now answered in the help center.
Let the fun begin! Good luck as you start working on your applications and keep an eye out for information for later in the month about the remote Common App Completion Workshops.
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