In last week’s episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, host Beth Heaton spent the whole hour celebrating open “office hours,” focusing on listener questions and the next School’s Out! segment.

In last week’s episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, host Sally Ganga and her guests addressed a wide variety of topics: economical travel timing and destinations for college students, a check-in on the activities section of the college application during our Application Workshop series, and scholarship and loan scams.

Update: Read the latest tips for the 2017-18 Common App.

The Common Application has been around for a long time. Since 1975 to be exact. And in the past several years, not only has the number of member institutions grown by leaps and bounds (today nearly 700 colleges in 48 states and 14 foreign countries accept the Common App), the application platform itself has become easier and more intuitive to use.

On the last episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, host Ian Fisher and his guests explored a non-profit program providing free educational and career advice, strategies for presenting your extracurricular activities, and the role of personal debt in the financial aid process.

On the last episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, host Beth Heaton and guests discussed how much is too much to borrow when it comes to paying for college, reviewed essay brainstorming homework and discussed starting a college list in our School’s Out: College Application Workshop segment, and finally wrapped up with Office Hours to address listeners’ admissions questions.

High school juniors are juggling a lot right now. Between wrapping up the academic year, cramming for finals, and prepping desperately for the SAT or ACT, it seems a bit unfair to expect juniors to tackle any additional responsibilities at the moment. So if you find yourself with limited free time on your hands, file it away for later this month. But if you’re lucky enough to have already completed your end-of-year assignments and you (or your parents) are just itching to get a head start on your college applications, read on. This is the blog for you: your one-stop shop to everything you need to know about how to register your Common App account.

When news of a new Coalition application was introduced last fall, admissions counselors knew they would have to learn an entirely new application platform in order to help their students apply to college the following fall. As a college counselor, I was perhaps most interested in the way that the new application—and its essay requirements—might change the way my seniors were able to approach their work over the application season. Would students be able to engage in brainstorming in the same ways they had in the past? What sorts of essays would they need to produce? How much extra work would a new application require of them?

Update: Read the latest tips for the 2017-18 Common App.

So the dust has settled. For the past several days, students have been hard at work trying to complete the three dozen or so digital pages that comprise the Common Application. Once you get the hang of it, navigating the Common App becomes almost second nature; you’ll soon find yourself deftly flipping from one section to another with the swift click of a button. But there are still some hidden tricks and common pitfalls that plague many applicants each year. In Part II of our in-depth look at the 2015 Common Application, we’ll answer your frequently asked questions related to the Education, Testing, and Activities pages. Don’t see your burning question listed below? Post a comment at the bottom of the screen, and you’ll have your answer soon enough!

Update: Read the latest tips for the 2017-18 Common App.

When the Common App went live on July 31, 2015 at approximately 7:40pm ET, I was ready. I pounced on the login page, eagerly typing in a username and password that would usher me to the new and improved 2015 Common App. Although I was already familiar with the planned updates to this year’s Common App, I wanted to see them in action. Would the new print preview feature alleviate much of the stress applicants faced last year? Would the new “Writing Requirements” section become the answer to all of our organizational dreams? Over the next few weeks, please join us as we deconstruct the 2015 Common Application, answering many of applicants’ frequently asked questions about completing their college applications. Up first: setting up your Common Application account and competing the Profile and Family pages.

Update: Read the latest tips for the 2017-18 Common App.

Earlier this month the Common Application introduced the first in a series of webinars focused on best practices and tips for completing the Common Application. Like all presentations in the series, the first webinar, titled “What to Expect in the 2015-2016 Common Application,” was geared specifically for guidance counselors.  But why should guidance counselors have all the fun? We’d like prospective applicants and their parents to get in on the Common App action, too! Unless you’re desperate to sit through a recorded webinar on the ins and outs of the revised 2015 Common App, allow the experts at College Coach to happily summarize the details for you.

1. Students must add their high school name (and CEEB code) before they can invite their guidance counselor and teachers to submit letters of recommendation. It’s crucial that students select the correct high school in this process, especially if they attend a high school that uses Naviance eDocs to manage the paperless submission process.