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

The Common Application Reveals New Essay Prompts for 2015-16

Some students choose to write about sports. Or their love of helping others. Or even about their unusual hobby of collecting those kitschy plastic-domed snow globes. Whatever the topic, the college admissions essay is meant to reveal a glimpse of a student’s character, one that – ideally – will help set that student apart from the thousands of other applicants vying for a spot at that same institution.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the Common Application announced its new lineup of essay prompts for the 2015-16 admissions cycle. And while this proclamation is certainly big news, I’d like to remind current high school juniors that there’s no need to agonize over which prompt they should choose.

At the start of this year’s application season, we released a series of articles on what to expect with the 2014-2015 Common Application. In response, we received many great Common App questions from our readers and thought it might be helpful to share the most frequently asked questions to help you put the finishing touches on your applications.

4 Common App FAQs

Q: Can a recommendation from one teacher be sent to multiple schools on my list?

A: Each teacher can write one letter of recommendation for you, and this same letter gets sent to all of the schools to which you have assigned him/her on the “Recommenders and FERPA” section of the Common Application. If you decide to apply to more schools later on in the process, your teacher’s letter will be sent automatically to those schools as well, as long as you have assigned him/her as the recommender for those new institutions.

How to Use Additional Information on the Common App

It’s the time of year that most seniors are starting to complete their Common Application, and if you’ve signed up for an account, you’re probably already aware that you must submit an essay of 250 to 650 words in response to one of five prompts. In addition to the personal statement, many colleges also require you to write responses to supplemental essays or questions. While these writing assignments are relatively clear and straightforward, there is also an Additional Information section offered on the bottom of the writing page that creates confusion and uncertainty among many college applicants. What exactly do you use this space for?

On its face, the Additional Information essay is a response to the following prompt:

Please provide an answer below if you wish to provide details of circumstances or qualifications not reflected in the application. You may enter up to 650 words.

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

Your personal statement in your college application is complete and your activities page looks flawless. Now it’s time to turn your attention to the “My Colleges” tab and submit your Common Application!

My Colleges: Writing Supplements

So here’s my biggest pet peeve with the Common App this year. The school writing supplements can be anywhere!  While some colleges don’t require any additional essays (such as Fordham, Ithaca, or Middlebury), many colleges do. To access those supplements, you’ll need to head over to the “My Colleges” tab. Click on the name of a school (see the Hampshire example below). In the left hand menu, if you see a “Writing Supplement” heading with “Questions” listed below it, some kind of additional writing is required.

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

Welcome back! For those of you who have already begun the process of completing your Common App, I hope you’re not encountering too many difficulties. Just think, in a few months, your college application will be finished and in the hands of dedicated admissions officers who will be hard at work, crafting the Class of 2019! But for now, let’s get back to the nuts and bolts of completing your Common App.

Common App: Testing Page

Tests Taken: We received so many questions from students regarding this section of the application last year. Students who were planning on utilizing Score Choice were reluctant to complete this section as they were worried it might “look bad” if it was left it blank. Other students wanted to report just ACT scores (and not SAT scores), but were concerned colleges might accuse them of not truthfully answering the question. If you read the directions carefully, you’ll note that the Common App instructs students to “indicate all tests you wish to report.”

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

If you’re a rising high school senior, chances are you’ll be using the Common Application to apply to college this year.  An amazing 800,000 students submitted 3.45 million applications through the Common App last year, and even more students will likely take the plunge this year. Those of us in the profession know all too well about the major technical snafus the Common App experienced with the release of version CA4 in 2013. Paragraph breaks in the main essay weren’t displaying properly, there were serious lag times when trying to print preview the application, and students were at a loss for how to navigate the self-reported testing page.

That was the bad news. Now here’s the good news. The 2014-15 Common Application launched on August 1, and so far – everything seems to be going smoothly! I registered myself and was able to complete the application (minus essay writing process) in about an hour. While some of our criticisms of last year’s Common App are still an issue, enough changes to the online application have been made to improve the overall experience. Read our application tips below for completing the 2014-15 Common Application, and don’t hesitate to post a question below as you work your way through the Common App!

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

Students are stressed. Parents are stressed. As if the college application process weren’t nerve-wracking enough, the new Common App has made it nearly impossible for thousands of students to upload, preview, and submit their college applications.

The New York Times recently published an article outlining many of the issues applicants are facing. From blank print preview pages to essays that are devoid of all proper formatting, the errors are significant. With deadlines for early decision and early action schools rapidly approaching, some colleges are being forced to accommodate students experiencing major technical glitches. The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill was among the first schools to push back their EA deadline, but Barnard College, the University of Chicago, Duke, Columbia, Tufts, and Northwestern have similarly followed suit with their early deadline extensions.

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

This morning, the Common Application sent out their “September 2013 School Officials Update,” which offers a few tips and reminders for completing CA4. According to their newsletter (sign up for it here), they are now “actively exploring how to clarify processes surrounding print preview, fee waivers, self-reported testing, and essay pasting.” Clearly, the bugs and glitches we saw surrounding the new Common App were not limited to the first few days of its existence! Until using the Common App becomes a truly hassle-free experience, here are a few more suggestions to help you best manage CA4.

Universities are places where debate and argument are fostered in all academic realms:  science, philosophy, law, culture, politics.  More often than not, they are places where students encounter the “other” — those holding beliefs that might seem “different” or “strange.”  Conflicts are bound to arise in such environments.  But how does one conduct himself when he sees an opportunity to make an argument that goes against the grain?  That’s the question facing students who choose to answer the Common Application’s essay prompt number three:

Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?