The Common App is an online application form through which you can choose to apply for undergrad programs of more than 900 colleges in USA. The Common App has helped streamline the admissions process for students applying for undergrad programs to US universities.
You must first create an account on the Common App platform and while creating the account is free, colleges charge anywhere between $25 and $90 as application processing fees. Member colleges go live on Aug 1 each year with specific individual requirements, and these include essays and questions other than the Common App essay. It is important that you add the list of the colleges you are applying to, to your Common App account so that you are in the know of these requirements and can comply with these accordingly.
Sections on the Common App
Profile – This will ask you for your Name, Address, Contact Details, Place of Birth, Languages you can speak, read and write, and your Citizenship. What’s important to note here is that you write your legal name, as it appears on your transcripts, standardised tests, and passport.
Family – This section covers questions about your parents and siblings – their education, occupation, birthdates, contact details, and colleges they graduated from or attended
Education – Here you are required to fill in your academic details like your school’s name, enrolment, and your date of finishing school. You will also be answering questions in this section about your plans for the future. There is a drop-down list from which you select fields that interest you as a career.
Academic Honours – In this section you get to tell the colleges about your achievements. It is advisable that your write about at least 5 achievements or awards that you have received in the time between your Grade 9 and 12. These could have been at the school, district, state, national or international level. If you have participated in Olympiads and AMC or CEMS math competitions, do mention them here in this section. Things to note
- Provide a brief context of your accomplishment – for example – ‘only 6 of the 5000 test takers were awarded this medal’
- Stay within the 150-character limit – for example: Won national swimming championship title.
- Punctuation: Avoid full stops altogether or put them at the end of all achievements
Test Score Section – In this section, you are expected to put your SAT, ACT and English proficiency test scores. You may also put your Advance Placement or Senior Secondary Leaving Exam scores if you took them.
Activities Section – This is a section where you will list your extra curricular activities – what you must understand here is that you have to put those activities here which you have been pursuing consistently; and where you have stacked up a reasonable amount of participation or achievement in projects or competitions associated with the mentioned activity. Include activities where you have demonstrated leadership or empathy or talent.
You will provide information on
- Activity type
- Position/leadership description and organisation name
- Details, honours won, and accomplishments
- Participation grade levels
- Timing of participation
- Hours spent per week
- Weeks spent per year
- If you intend to participate in a similar activity in college
Additional Information Section
Use this space to state what you couldn’t include in your 650-word essay. Make sure that you are not repeating what you’ve given in your activities’ section. Elaborate on other activities – it could be MUN participation, performing arts, sports and robotics, to name a few. You can even mention some unique situations where your leadership skills have been amply demonstrated.
Essay Section
The most important thing to remember while filling out this section is that you need to display those aspects of your personality in this space which your grade sheet and resume cannot reflect. There are many colleges which ask you to write additional college-specific essays. The topics can range from ‘Why you would like to study in a particular college?’ to ‘Why have you chosen a particular field of study’ and more.
Letters of Recommendation
You must submit letters of recommendation on the Common App platform – usually 2 to 3 – two from your teachers and one from your school counsellor. These letters provide the admission officers with a personal insight into your personality and character from a credible and trustworthy source who’s been associated with you during your academic journey. The letters add the weight of worthiness to your application.
This section also has the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) section, an important aspect of the letter of recommendation (LOR) format. When you waive your FERPA rights, it means that you do not get to see your recommendation letters, an indication that these letters are unbiased.
When you add and invite recommenders through the Common App, a mail is sent to your teachers with instructions on submitting the letter of recommendation.
How to Complete the Common Application
- Go to commonapp.org and click on the “Start your application” button to get details about how to create an account and log in.
- Choose the first-year student or transfer student option.
- Add user information such as name, email, phone number, address, date of birth and prospective enrolment year.
- Fill out the user profile with requested details on education, extracurriculars, demographic data, household information and more.
- Add collaborators such as teachers, counsellors and others providing letters of recommendation or other supporting documents.
- Search for and add schools to “My Colleges.”
- Get familiar with each college’s application requirements and follow those accordingly when applying.