What is the Common App?
The Common Application enables students to apply to over 1000 colleges. The Common Application helps to streamline the application process by allowing you to apply to multiple schools through this single portal, rather than applying to each school through its own separate process. Though some parts of this application will be sent to every school, you will also be able to (and asked to) supplement and customize your submissions for each specific school.
Finding Your Way Around the Common Application
It takes a little time to get comfortable navigating around the Common Application. The first step is to understand the four main tabs available to you: Dashboard, My Colleges, Common App, and College Search.
COLLEGE SEARCH TAB
The College Search tab will bring you to a screen where you can search for colleges to add to your My College list (which will be available to you in the My Colleges tab). When adding a specific school to your list, be sure that you are spelling the name correctly, because the search engine does not navigate spelling errors.
When you are taken to the Results List page of the College Search tab, you can click on the school name for more information or on one of the options after clicking the button to the right of the school name. You will also be able to click on the plus sign to add the college to your list. Be sure to select the correct college from the results given (e.g. six schools from all over the United States will populate if you search for “Concordia”—and all they have different application requirements!).
MY COLLEGES TAB
Once you’ve added a few schools to your list (via the College Search tab) the My Colleges tab will populate with those schools and a lot of information. Clicking on a school’s name will give you information about the school, its deadlines, and its requirements. Below the school’s name is listed school-specific questions, recommenders, and writing supplements. You can have up to 20 colleges saved.
The My Colleges tab is where schools can individualize the application to fit their own needs. Therefore, this section varies widely from school to school.
Schools may ask for:
- Specific information about your family
- Test score reports
- Letters of recommendation
- Additional essays etc.
Though many colleges may suggest that questions and essays are optional, these “optional” fields really are not optional if you actually hope to be admitted. We HIGHLY recommend completing all optional essays available.
NOTE: You will need to individually fill out each section of each college—none of your answers will automatically carry over from one college to the next, even if asking for the same information.
DASHBOARD TAB
The Dashboard tab is the default opening page once you sign into the Common Application. The Dashboard tab displays all of your colleges and the status of your work for each major admissions component. From here, you can get a quick overview of your progress and jump directly to the work you want to complete.
COMMON APP TAB
The Common App tab is the section of your application that will be sent to all of your prospective schools. Therefore, this section collects information that every school will need, such as your name, date of birth, family history, your high school transcript, test scores, activities list, and personal statement.
After finishing each section, be sure to click continue to save. Though you will automatically be taken to the next section, you do not need to complete these sections in any specific order. That being said, it is important to fill in this information accurately. If you discover you have made a mistake in these sections, you will be able to easily make edits. It is a good idea to make notes of any information you need to look up and come back to later.
Have lingering questions about the completing the Common App? Reach out! Call us at 608-841-1053 or email info@galined.com to learn more about our college counseling programs and all the ways that we support students!
