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[Video] What is the Common Application?

Ian Fisher College Coach

Written by Ian Brook Fisheron August 10th, 2018

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.
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The Common Application opened up for the new school year on August 1, so, rising high school seniors, you can apply for college. Right. Now. Not quite ready to give up the lazy beach days of summer in favor of submitting college applications? That’s OK. No need to pull the trigger quite yet. But you should at least begin to think about how you’re going to manage the college application process over the coming weeks. Consider how you can approach this process efficiently in order to maximize your chances of success. One tool to help you save time and energy on college application is the Common Application, often referred to as the Common App. But what exactly is the Common App? Find out from former Reed College admission officer Ian Fisher in the latest installment of the video series, Ask the College Admissions Expert. Tune in to learn what the Common Application is and how it can help you manage your college application process. And don’t forget to subscribe to the College Coach YouTube Channel to keep up-to-date on all the latest college planning tips from our college admissions and finance experts. Common App Resources CTA

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