Common APP

It is very easy to create a Common App account (it is like any other platform on the Internet). The tricky part starts when you have to fill in the demographic information required to complete your profile in the application. It is very important that you complete this information because this is the basic information about you that all the universities you apply to will see. Technically, this is only a small part of the Common App itself, but it is still very important because you can clarify how much money your family makes per year (to receive financial aid from your college), report your GPA, and explain the extracurricular activities you participated in during high school. These demographic and personal details help colleges understand what type of candidate you are. You just have a number of specific characters (usually too small) to explain your personal interests and other things that make you a good potential student for college. Here, though, you should do your best to explain what you are interested in studying or the community activities in which you participate. You must report everything you have done in high school, all the AP classes you have taken, and all the extracurricular activities you have done.

In Common App, you can add colleges that will receive your application to your profile. All universities that are registered with the Common App have their requirements to apply; the individual college requirements plus the personal/demographic data you entered into the Common App make up your entire application. I recommend that you start by creating a list (written or in your mind) of all the universities you want to apply to. You can use the internet to conduct preliminary research on the different colleges that interest you to narrow down the list if there are too many colleges you are interested in. You should also note the important qualities you want the college you will eventually attend to have. Does it matter to you that the school is close to your family? Does it matter to you that you get full financial aid or is partial financial aid an option for you? Do you have a specific interest that you want to see represented at your university? Maybe a good math or history program? Does the university's level of cultural diversity matter to you? Would you like to go to a university near a big city or a more rural or suburban university? These are a lot of tough questions, and you probably won’t be able to answer them all right now, but it is important to start thinking about these questions as early as possible. If you start thinking about these things earlier rather than later, you'll have a much smoother, low-stress college application experience. There are also many online resources to help you decide the qualities that you wish to see in your future school. You can use the College Board's College Search to research various elements of different colleges and decide what type of college will be best for you personally. This is a terrific resource and I highly recommend it to everyone! When you have created this list of potential schools, you must add them to your Common App profile.

On the platform, you will be able to see all the requirements that each university needs. Organization is the most important thing during this process. I know I have already said multiple times that "you must create a list", but this is true in this case as well. You should create a table or other kind of chart to help you visualize all the different things that you have to submit as part of your application for each university. You should also add the deadline for each responsibility so you know by what day you should have each item completed. For example, all universities that are in the Common App require a “personal statement.” This is simply a personal essay in which you can describe a specific element of yourself that makes you an exceptional candidate. You will be able to choose the topic of your essay from a list. Usually, the topics change from year to year, but most of the time the topics ask you to describe a difficult situation that you have experienced in your life and how you got through it or what academic interest you have and the ways that you have explored it during your time in high school. All the topics ask you to showcase a more complex part of your personality; honestly, it is one of the only opportunities to directly show university representatives why you deserve to attend their school. For this reason, it is probably the most important part of your application and the main element that can make the difference between a rejection and an acceptance to a university. In this website, you will find another guide specifically on writing the personal statement, but now nothing else is as important as knowing that all universities require this essay. Many colleges require letters of recommendation from teachers or school counselors (some require one or two; some colleges let you add more if you want, but this is optional). You can find another short guide in this website with tips related to asking your teachers for letters of recommendation and how to best do this. Other requirements of some colleges include additional essays where you can explain the extracurricular activities you participated in during high school and any other things of interest to the university. It’s a lot of things, right? For this reason, it is very important that you write down all the requirements of each university and that you organize yourself in the best way to complete everything on time.

When you have completed all your essays, you must review them multiple times to check for any spelling or grammatical errors. You should also ask a teacher, friend, or family member to read your essay so that they can give you suggestions on which parts of the essay you can improve or what topics you can elaborate further with your writing. Make sure you have added all the necessary elements for each application before submitting them. The Common App platform does not let you submit the application if you have not filled out all the necessary elements but you should check yourself again just in case. Finally, submit your application and breathe a sigh of relief!