The Common App

The Common Application is a centralized application that students can complete for over 480 different colleges and as of today it is now updated and released for the Class of 2014 to begin working on their applications. 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. 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 1 essay that must be completed for all colleges, but you do have a choice about what essay to pick from a list or prompts.  I wrote about those prompts last month - you can check out that post again here.

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. 

Not all schools use the common app - there are 18 Ohio schools which will utilize the common application this year, 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 from your list uses the common app.

I have spent the last few hours playing around on the Common App website and the new format will be pretty straight forward for you to use.  A few things I want to make sure you are aware of to help as you are completing your application...

- After you have selected your colleges and added them to your list you will see specific questions (the supplements specific to that school) and some of them are updated now, but others haven't been posted yet so you may have to check back.

- It will ask you questions about me and so you will want to be sure that you spell my name and e-mail address right or else I won't receive the e-mail to complete your school forms.  (Brianna Abbott, Title: School Counselor, E-mail: babbott@worthington.k12.oh.us, Phone: 614-450-6490)

-  There is a section about testing and it will ask if tests are required for graduation.  Your answer is "yes" as you are required to pass the Ohio Graduation Tests.  You will need to provide the information off of your transcript regarding your OGT scores.

-  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.

-  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 very 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.

-  You will have to indicate your class size - for the Class of 2014, it is 312.