How Do I Upload the Common Ap for My Colleges

Over one one thousand thousand high school students use the Common App each twelvemonth to utilize to colleges. The Common Application website can seem confusing at starting time, only we're here to simplify things. Looking for Common App instructions? Desire to learn how to add colleges to Mutual App profiles? Only desire to know what the Common App looks like before you dive in? We answer all those questions and walk you through each section of the Common App and then you tin create the strongest college application possible.

Common App Overview

The Common Awarding is an online platform that allows you lot to utilise to multiple colleges at once. The Common App streamlines the college application process by allowing students to fill out details such as their contact information, extracurricular activities, grades, and essays just one fourth dimension. Information technology's the most popular higher application platform, and more than a 1000000 students use it each yr.

Using the Mutual App is free for students, though you lot'll probable have to pay application fees for the schools you're applying to. If you're worried about these costs, you can apply for a fee waiver.) Over 900 colleges use the Common App, so in that location's a high chance that all the schools yous're applying to permit Common App submissions.

The large do good to using the Common App is that yous can apply to schools through a centralized higher awarding system instead of having to submit all your applications individually. This type of system not only makes the whole higher application process a lot easier, just it also saves you lot a ton of valuable time since yous won't have to keep filling out the same information for each schoolhouse.

How to Set up a Common App Account

Setting upward your Mutual App account is a fast and easy process. First, become to the Common Application's website. In the upper right corner is a push labelled "Create an Account." Click it! Y'all'll select if y'all're a student, parent, or education professional. (Almost people will select "first twelvemonth student" since they're applying to enter college every bit a freshman.)

Then you'll ready your business relationship. You'll enter basic information such as your email (which will be your username) and password, also every bit your name, phone number, engagement of birth, and address. Finally, you'll decide whether you want the Common App to share your contact information with colleges so they can transport you schoolhouse brochures and if you want the Common App to transport y'all emails and texts non directly related to your application. Both of these are completely optional and won't touch your awarding.

Click "Create Account," and yous're prepare to go!

What does the Common App look like? After your business relationship is created, and every new time y'all log in, you'll be brought to your dashboard, which looks similar this:

How to Add together Colleges to Common App Account

One time you have your Common App account set up, you lot can get-go adding the schools you want to employ to. To exercise this, click the "College Search" tab. Enter the proper noun of the school into the search bar, then click the plus sign to the left of the schoolhouse proper name to add it to your list of schools.

Adding schools right now is non-binding, so don't stress too much about this. Just add together every schoolhouse you're planning on applying to. To remove a school, click its name, scroll to the bottom of the page, and click "Remove college."

Once y'all have all your schools added, click the "My Colleges" tab, and you'll see them listed on that folio. You can click on the name of each school to encounter that higher'south contact information, application deadlines, standardized test score policy, messages of recommendation policy, personal statements required, and any boosted awarding information. These pages contain a wealth of information, so be certain to check them out!

Mutual App Instructions for Each Section of the Application

Under the "Common App" tab, yous'll run across seven sections to consummate. Here we explicate the Common App instructions for each of these sections to ensure you make full them out correctly.

Contour

This is basic demographic information like your name, contact data, native languages, citizenship, etc. You're only required to fill out the questions with a ruddy asterisk adjacent to them. Leaving the optional questions bare won't negatively impact your applications. At that place are a off-white number of questions to reply here, but they're all short and piece of cake, so this will be one of the fastest sections to complete. If you have a fee waiver or believe you're eligible for one, this is likewise where you'll betoken that.

Family

This is like to the Profile section, only these questions are nigh your family members, not yourself. You'll answer questions about your parents' educational condition, birthplace, and occupation, and your siblings' age and education level. (If whatsoever of these don't apply, you can mark that and skip those questions.) Similar the Profile department, the Family unit section has a agglomeration of short, easy questions that shouldn't accept you long to complete.

Education

In this section, you lot'll enter information virtually the high school(south) you lot attended, your GPA and course rank, whatsoever community higher classes y'all've taken, each form yous'll be taking this year, and whatever academic achievements you've received. Yous'll already exist sending your academic transcripts to the schools you're applying to, just this is a way for schools to quickly view some of the main information from your transcript.

Testing

Here you'll enter your standardized test scores (although you lot'll nevertheless need to submit official score reports to colleges you're applying to). You'll choose which test scores yous're reporting, such as SAT, ACT, AP, IB, TOEFL, etc., and then you'll enter information about the blazon of test yous took, the date you took information technology, and the scores you received. Equally long every bit you accept your scores handy, this will be a quick and easy section to fill out.

Activities

For the Activities department, y'all'll list each of the extracurriculars you've been involved in. This includes both schoolhouse-related extracurriculars, like being on the JV soccer time, and non-school extracurriculars, like jobs y'all've had or individual clubs you've been office of. For each activity, you'll listing the activity, the position you held, how long y'all participated, how many hours per week you spent on it, and if y'all plan to continue the activity in higher. You'll also need to requite a brief description of the activeness (up to 150 characters long).

For the descriptions, we recommend using upwards all those 150 characters (which really isn't much) and putting in every bit much information as you can about how you participated and if you had whatever leadership role or won awards. For all extracurriculars, colleges love to see leadership, dedication, and skill. This ways, emphasize all the times you lot took accuse, had a bang-up accomplishment, went above and beyond, or fabricated an impact.

This section oft takes a fair amount of time to fill out considering you lot need to retrieve a lot of data and decide how to describe each of your activities in the all-time fashion to show your skills and dedication.

Writing

This is the section where you'll complete your personal essay. At that place are seven essay prompts; you lot'll choose one of them and write an essay 250-650 words long. Some colleges don't require this essay. At the acme of this folio, yous'll see which of your schools require it, and which don't. We accept an in-depth guide on the Common App personal statement, how to choose the correct prompt, and how to write the strongest essay. Nosotros recommend you spend a fair amount of time on this function of the Common App, since a lot of schools do look closely at your personal statement. We recommend writing it in a give-and-take document, looking it over several times, and asking a parent and/or classmate for their opinion before pasting it into the Common App.

This is also the department where you lot'll talk over any disciplinary history you may have had, also as where you can complete the optional "COVID prompt." The COVID prompt is where students can explain impacts the COVID-19 pandemic may have had on them, both personally and academically. It can be up to 250 words. Information technology'south totally optional, and if the coronavirus didn't negatively affect your grades, extracurricular participation, or anything similar, then don't feel the demand to respond this prompt.

This is also where you lot have the opportunity to respond the prompt, "Practise yous wish to provide details of circumstances or qualifications not reflected in the awarding?" This is your hazard to explain things that negatively impacted your grades/transcripts/extracurricular participation and aren't related to the coronavirus. For example, you might have gotten mono sophomore year  and missed a lot of class, which hurt your grades. Yous may have had a death in the family with a similar impact. Y'all might have broken your arm one twelvemonth and not take been able to participate on the basketball game team. Again, it's completely optional, but if you take something you lot want colleges to know, this is your identify to discuss it. You can write up to 650 words.

Courses & Grades

Some schools don't require yous to complete this section (again, at the top of the page, it'll say which of your colleges do). If none do, then you're very lucky, because this tin can exist a time-consuming department to make full out. To complete it, you'll need to enter every grade you took, when you took information technology, the class you got, and the level it was taken at. Like we said, it'll accept some time. We recommend having your transcript next to y'all as you fill this section out. Here's what the form you'll need to make full out for each form looks like:

Common App Instructions for Supplements

Most colleges you're applying to volition accept supplemental questions and/or essays you demand to consummate. To complete them, click on the schoolhouse's name nether "My Colleges." You'll see supplemental questions under "Questions," "Recommenders and FERPA," and "Writing Supplement.". The questions are like shooting fish in a barrel to complete and can enquire annihilation from if you have siblings attending the schoolhouse to if you plan on applying for fiscal aid to if yous program on living on-campus your freshman year.

If a school requires letters of recommendation, it'll be under "Recommenders and FERPA." You'll sign the FERPA agreement, decide whether or non you want to waive your rights to viewing what your recommenders wrote, and then select who you want to write your letters. Each school volition have instructions on how many letters they want, and who they desire them from (such as teachers or guidance counselors). Ask the people you want to write your messages first before entering their data because they'll immediately be sent the invitation grade, and you lot don't want to grab them off guard.

For schools that do have supplemental essays, they often focus on why you want to attend that particular school. We call these "Why This College" essays and have an commodity entirely devoted to how to answer them.

Submitting the Mutual App

Once you lot have all the sections of the Common App completed, you're ready to submit! A nice thing about the Common App is that it'll alert you to any required information y'all haven't answered, then you don't need to worry about forgetting something of import. If a required question is left blank, you won't be able to submit without answering it. We exercise recommend double-checking your answers though, to make sure you included all the information you wanted and in that location are no errors.

Y'all'll submit your application separately for each schoolhouse. When y'all're gear up, go to your "My Colleges" tab, click on the schoolhouse'southward name, and click "Review and Submit." After yous've confirmed that your application is complete, you'll exist directed to a 3rd-political party site to pay the schoolhouse's awarding fee. Finally, you'll exist brought back to the Common App to sign and submit your application. Repeat this process for each of your schools, and you lot'll be set! Call up to send transcripts, official examination scores, and other additional information the schools asking (you can see this information past clicking on the schoolhouse'due south name).

What'south Adjacent?

Working on your college essay? Learn what not to do with our in-depth guide.

Trying to determine if you should retake the Saturday or ACT? Learn how to develop a target ACT score or SAT score based on the colleges you want to use to.

Which schools accept the Common App?Run across the consummate listing on our guide to schools that accept the Common Application.

Want to build the best possible college application?

We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world'southward all-time admissions consulting service. We combine globe-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. Nosotros've overseen thousands of students get into their summit selection schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League.

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About the Author

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Principal's from Duke Academy. In loftier school she scored in the 99th percentile on the Sat and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English language and biological science in several countries.

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Source: https://blog.prepscholar.com/common-app-instructions

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