The Common Application

The Common Application is a standardized undergraduate college admissions application that enables students to apply to over 500 national and international colleges and universities that are participating members. These schools span across 47 states including Washington DC, as well as schools abroad in France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, and the United Kingdom. The application is managed by a not-for-profit association, The Common Application, Inc. and administrated by a 13 member volunteer Board of Directors who consists of college admission deans and college guidance counselors. The Common Application is available for both first-year applicants and transfer students. It includes components similar to those of college applications used by individual schools: personal, familial, and educational information, standardized testing data, academic honors, extracurricular activities, a personal essay, work experience, and criminal history.

The college application process is time-consuming and it is becoming more and more complex and convoluted. The Common Application streamlines this process because it offers students the opportunity to complete one shared application and one essay and send the information to multiple schools, rather than tackle separate applications for each individual college. Once the application is completed and submitted online, the same information is sent to each of the institutions that have been selected by the applicant.

Pros and Cons to Consider

Pros:

• The Common Application saves time. It allows a student to apply to more than 500 colleges and universities through the use of only one online application.
• It is an efficient process since students fill out responses to a set of questions that are common to all of the prospective institutions.
• Students are not at a disadvantage if they choose to use the standardized online application. Colleges that use The Common Application can still require their own supplemental application as well as additional materials specific to their schools.
• You can start on the Common Application anytime you want by creating a login.

Cons:

• Students should not apply to a school that is not the best match for their interests or respective goals simply because they can add an unlimited number of schools to their application list.
• The system software is dogged with numerous technical problems and malfunctions during the height of application season. For example, applicants have been diverted to blank pages and have encountered numerous error messages that prevent them from progressing through each step of the online application. Therefore, don’t wait until last minute to complete and submit your application.
• Many schools use the Common Application but not all of them. There are thousands of colleges in the US and abroad and only a little over 500 of these schools utilize The Common Application. If the school you are interested in is not listed as a member, you will need to submit a separate application directly to the institution.

Completing multiple college applications is a time-consuming and tiresome process. If you consider applying to two or more of the participating schools, The Common Application is well worth your efforts.

Check out the full list of The Common Application members:

• Member Schools: A-M https://appsupport.commonapp.org/link/portal/33011/33013/Article/999/Live-Common-App-Member-Schools-A-M
• Member Schools: N-Z https://appsupport.commonapp.org/ics/support/kbanswer.asp?deptID=33013&questionID=1902&task=knowledge 

Look up specific schools to see if they are participating members: https://www.commonapp.org/search-colleges