College Applications Helpful Details about the 2015 Common Application | College Coach Blog Written by Ian Brook Fisheron August 1st, 2015 I began my career in admissions by walking backwards as a student intern, giving guided tours, interviewing students, and reading applications for my alma mater, Reed College. After graduating, I began full-time work in admissions, reading thousands of applications primarily from the Western United States, especially Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. (I got to eat the best food on my travel!) In my last three years at Reed, I directed admissions for the entire continent of Asia and served as the director of marketing and communications for the admission office, honing our official voice for web, print, and social media. This helped me to develop a sharp eye for what works (and what doesn’t) in college essays. While Reed is not known (at all!) for sports, I was able to find my competitive outlet with the ultimate Frisbee team as a player and, when I graduated, a coach. After nine wonderful years at Reed, I left Portland to pursue a M.A. at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. When I graduated and joined College Coach, I was living in Palo Alto, California, an experience that helped me learn so much about the UC and CSU system and high school programs all around the Bay Area. In the end, I missed the rain too much, and moved back to Portland in the summer of 2016. Learn More About Ian common app, common application, Update: Read the latest tips for the 2017-18 Common App. The Common Application launches today, and students around the country will have the opportunity to login and begin filling out the information within. While we recommend students create an account and begin to poke around the application’s dashboard and other tools, we also want students to know that there is no inherent value in submitting the application as quickly as possible—especially if that means sacrificing the quality of the materials within. Every year an article highlights the kid who submitted the first application of the year. Pay no mind. When apps are read months from now, there’ll be no timestamp on the forms—no priority list based on when apps come in. For help with the Common App itself, return to us often. In addition to comprehensive posts on the Common App’s new interface for this year, our Common App expert Elyse Krantz joined fellow educator Beth Heaton on College Coach’s Getting In: A College Coach Conversation radio show this week to help make sense of all the ins and outs of the app. If you need a helping hand or just want a little clarity in an opaque process, look no further. Take your time, get comfortable, and set up a strategy to find success over these next few months, both with your applications and the rest of your final year of high school! Check out Elyse's other Common App articles: What to Know About the 2015-16 Common App: Part 1 What to Know About the 2015-16 Common App: Part 2 What to Know About the 2015-16 Common App: Part 3 Common App Essay Prompts for 2015-2016 10 Biggest Changes to the 2015-16 Common Application Listen to Elyse's segments on the 2015-16 Common App on Getting In: A College Coach Conversation: New Common App Prompts for 2015-2016: What You Need to Know Common App 2015: Everything You Need to Know | Part 1 Common App 2015: Everything You Need to Know | Part 2 Related Resources Read | Posted on September 10th, 2024 What is a Brag Sheet and What Goes on It? Read | Posted on May 13th, 2024 Should You Submit an Optional Portfolio with Your College Application? Read | Posted on May 6th, 2024 UT Austin’s New Approach to Recommendation Letters