Common App Preview Now Available
July 18, 2011
The Common Application (“Common App”) will go online on August 1st. Until that time, you can check out the application in “preview” mode by clicking here.
The Common App is an undergraduate college admission application that students utilize to apply to any of the member institutions located within the United States. It serves to promote college admissions through the use of both subjective criteria (e.g., essays and recommendations) and objective criteria ( e.g., GPA and standardized exam scores). Simply put, the Common App streamlines the college application process for students choosing to apply to its member colleges.
In addition to the main essay (see our post, Common Application Essay Limits Word Count, for information about the new 500 word limitation), member colleges may require additional supplements for items not already requested on the Common App. These typically represent questions that would not be considered “common” for all institutions, such as “Did your parent attend our university?” and the like. Additional essays and questions may also be required by member colleges, with the following caveats:
- Supplement questions may not re-ask questions already asked on the Common App (except identifying information like name, address, date of birth, etc.), and
- Supplement questions may not ask questions that violate the National Association for College Admission Couseling’s Statement of Principles and Good Practice (such as “please rank order your college choices”).
As of August 1, 2011, the Common Application website will list 463 colleges and universities as members, including 62 public institutions. You can go online and sign up, returning to fill in information as often as you like until you are ready to submit it to any of the member colleges.
Have a question for us about the Common App? Contact us at info@top-tiertutoring.com, or call us at 973.243.1212.
