So Common: Filling Out College Applications
One of the most boring parts of applying to college is what you should do immediately.
The Common Application, as well as pretty much every other application portal, opened for the Fall semester on August 1st.
If you are a rising senior and you have not yet done so, get a Common Application account now. Do not read any further. Do not do anything else. Open up a new window, and create your account immediately. (Well, if you haven’t subscribed to the Admissions Abstract yet, you can do that first.)
A Common App account is free, and all you need to create an account is an email address. If you know you will apply to the University of California schools, the California State University institutions, State University of New York campuses, any of the colleges using ApplyTexas, or one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities on the Common Black College Application, sign up for those application portals as well.
A Common App account is the main account for any applicant, with only a few very minor exceptions. The very idea of the Common App when it was founded 50 years ago was to make applying to multiple colleges much easier. The Common App now has over 1,000 members, with hundreds of schools using the Common App exclusively. The major schools that don’t use it are the UC System, the CalState schools, Georgetown, and MIT. Perhaps you’ll land on an application list of schools without a single school on the Common App. It’s unlikely. Creating a free Common App account is easy and keeps your options open.
Creating a Common App account–or an account for any other application portal–does NOT mean you immediately need to complete the application. The worst thing you can do is rush through an application. Writing and editing your application essays takes work, and putting together your Activity List requires consideration. You need to ask your teachers for recommendations, which they need time to write. You can’t just immediately complete a college application.
You can start an application, taking care of all the things that don’t need much thought. There is a lot of pure information required on college applications, and you should knock all of that out as soon as possible. This does not require you to do much thinking. Creating an account takes about a minute, while filling out the basic information takes less than an hour. But the basic information is something you can do at any time.
The basic information on your application includes:
Your full legal name.
Your preferred name.
Your birthdate.
Your address.
Your parents’ names, education, and jobs.
Your siblings’ ages and education.
Your high school(s).
Your SAT® or ACT® scores, if you have them.
Your AP® scores, if you have them.
Every item listed above is something that you already know and will not change during your senior year.
The one kind of exception is SAT and ACT scores. If you are retaking the test, you can change your scores on the Common App. But if you aren’t, go ahead and put them in with your name, birthday, and school. Even if you choose not to submit your test scores to a test-optional school, you decide whether to submit for each school. The scores live on your Common App account, but only go to schools where you agree to send them, so you can submit them if you want.
Creating a Common App account is a necessity for any senior. It’s also a good move for underclassmen. Common App accounts rollover, meaning the information you input will be ready to go by your senior year. Filling out the basic information on the Common App or any other portal may only take a few minutes, but doing it when you can means you don’t have to do it later. You will also then be able to focus on your essays, activity list, and other parts of your application.
So if you didn’t do it earlier, go ahead and sign up for a Common App account.
Want help making your application essays the best they can be? We’ll review any draft you have and provide feedback in an hour-long session. Or you can sign up for a full, 10-session college counseling program to make sure your applications are their very best.
The best way for anything to grow is word-of-mouth. Please share The Admissions Abstract with anyone you think will appreciate it. In addition to this newsletter, we help students, parents, and counselors navigate the college application process. If you need college counseling, test-prep tutoring, or a speaker for your school event, check out everything we offer.