Common Application Info and Hints
Common Application is used by over 900 colleges/universities, but not all!
Listed in Scoir and College’s website if accept CA
Can be a ‘timesaver’ if applying to more than 2 or 3 colleges that use CA- only have to do main part of app 1 time (colleges still will have their own ‘part).
TABLE OF CONTENTS Info/Hints for CA in this slideshow:
How to start- slide 2
Adding Colleges- slide 3-4
The main/common part of the application- slides 5-12
Requesting an application fee waiver- slide 6
The ‘big’ essay- slide 12
College-specific questions (My Colleges tab)- slides 13-21
Adding your counselor and teacher recommenders- slides 14-17
How to submit your application- slide 21
Starting the Common App
Create your account!
This account is YOURS and the email/username and password CANNOT be seen by your ZB/NT counselor or by the college.
Neither your ZB/NT counselor NOR your college can help you reset a password, for example.
‘Landing page’ will look like this initially.
There are 3 main tabs you will use: My Colleges, Common App, and College Search
Adding Colleges- DO THIS FIRST
You have to add the colleges to your application. ONLY the colleges you list will be able to see your Common Application (it’s not a ‘viewing database’ for colleges).
Click on
College Search
Type in name of college you want to apply to
(use full name, not abbreviation)
Click on ‘Add to My Colleges”
Adding Colleges- Dashboard
Added Colleges show up on the Dashboard when you log in.
It’s a reminder of the colleges you’re applying to, and deadlines.
You should also add your counselor and teacher recommenders before moving on. Go to Slide 14 for info on how to do this!
Common App tab- the main part of the application!
There are 6 sections to this. This is the Common part of the application, and ANYTHING you put in here will be seen by ALL the colleges you’re applying to. You only have to do this part once!
Common App tab- Profile section
8 sub-sections in the Profile section.
This is the ONLY place to request a fee waiver for all your Common App applications. The request goes to your counselor for ‘approval’ (everyone who asks gets one)
When you answer all questions in the sub-section, there will be a green check AND it will take you to next sub-section.
Fee waiver
finished
Common App tab- Family section
4 sub-sections about your household.
Common App tab- Education section
8 sub-sections about your education and academic history
Common App tab- Education section
Grades sub-section asks for your graduating class size and rank info
483
Exact rank
Can be found on your transcript
A copy of your transcript is in Parchment OR email your counselor for a copy
Rank is weighted (based on weighted GPA)
Scale is 4 (not all classes are weighted to 5)
Your weighted GPA
“Weighted” if have weighted GPA
“Unweighted” if wt and unwt GPA are same
Common App tab- Activities section
Activities you’ve done in high school. Can list up to 10. Be sure to include work and/or family responsibilities!
Common App tab- Writing section
3 sub-sections of the Writing section.
Common App tab- Writing section
This essay can be seen by ANY college you send the Common App to.
Some require this essay as part of their application. DO NOT NAME COLLEGES IN THIS ESSAY!
The essay is a text box with a minimum of 250 words and a max of 650. You should draft on a doc and copy/paste when ready.
The 6 prompts can be previewed at: https://www.commonapp.org/apply/essay-prompts
You choose which 1 prompt you want to write about.
You will see here which of your colleges require this essay.
My Colleges tab
This tab is where you finish the application for each college on your Common App list. You have to complete college-specific questions that will only be sent to that specific college.
This is also where you add your counselor (who will attach a transcript for you and fill out the School Report) and teacher recommenders. You need the email addresses of both your counselor and the teacher recommenders.
Each college you’ve added will have its own section
My Colleges tab- Recommenders and FERPA
Do the Recommenders and FERPA section first. You only have to do this in 1 college’s tab. It will show up for all colleges.
Open 1 college’s tab, click on Recommenders and FERPA
Click on FERPA
My Colleges tab- FERPA
FERPA is a federal law that all colleges have to abide by. It is about your access to your own educational records, and college applications fall under this law.
You have to authorize release of your records (transcript).
You also have a choice of waiving or not waiving your right to see recommendations. It is suggested to waive your right for 2 reasons: a) colleges prefer you waive your rights to see the recs due to potential bias or pressure on the teacher when writing if they know you’ll see it, and b) ZB/NT teachers usually give students a copy of the letter they’ve written anyway!
Waive or not waive right to see letters of rec
My Colleges- Invite Recommenders
Click on Invite Counselor and fill out form. CA will email an invite to the counselor.
Click on Invite Recommender, choose teacher, and fill out form. CA will email an invite to the teacher.
Invite counselor
Invite teacher/s
My Colleges- Recommenders
Your invited counselor will be the same for every college. You can see when you invited the counselor and the status of the counselor filling out the forms for you.
You have a choice of ‘assigning’ teacher recommendations for each college, based on who you invite as a teacher. Not all teacher recs need to be sent to all colleges.
Each college also has listed how many teacher recs are required and how many are optional. The college will only read up to that many letters.
How many recs are needed for this college.
Pick a teacher and ‘assign’ their letter for this college.
Can also resend the invite in the Manage Recommenders button.
My Colleges- Questions
Each college has a Questions section. Answers to these questions ONLY go to that college.
Some colleges have multiple sub-sections in the Questions section. These are specific to that college.
My Colleges tab- Questions
The Questions area is where you pick which ‘admission plan’ you want your application reviewed under (if there’s a choice). This determines the application deadline, which can be viewed on the Dashboard when you log in.
Preferred admission plan
Application deadline on the Dashboard for each college, based on what you picked.
My Colleges tab- Questions and ‘Hidden’ Essays
Be careful of ‘hidden’ essays!
Here’s an example of a short essay you have to write about your choice of intended major. There may be other ‘topics’ chosen by the college.
This essay will only be read by this college, and is a required part of the application to this college.
You definitely want to preview the Questions section for each college to see what college-specific essay you may need!
“Program choice essay”
My Colleges tab- Submitting the Application
You have to submit the application to each college individually. You can only submit 1 application at a time.
The application will not allow you to submit until all sections of the Common App tab AND the college-specific section of My Colleges are completed.
You can submit the application until 11:59pm on the due date. Your application must be submitted by the deadline. The counselor and/or teacher parts can be submitted a few days later.