You’re an excited high school senior ready to embark on the scary but thrilling journey of college applications, and then you encounter something known as the Common Application . As daunting as all of the sections of the Common App might seem, if done right, it can help ease the process. The Common Application is divided into different sections:
In this blog, we will take a closer look at the sections and provide tips for filling out each one. A very important factor to remember is that these upcoming sections apply for all of the schools on the Common Application ! All of the colleges you apply to within this platform will see the same information that you’ve filled out in the Family section or Activities section of the Common App. Therefore, do not write anything that’s specific to any one of the schools. You can tailor your responses in the college-specific sections that come up once you have chosen a school, but the following will be sent to all of the schools on your list.
Your entire college application process rides on how you fill the Common App out! To help guide you through them, here is a step-by-step look at each of the sections and the best ways to tackle them.
To fill out the Common Application , make sure you have all of the information with you. You will need:
Start collecting the documents and asking for recommendations ahead of time. Your teacher or counselor cannot write a stellar recommendation on the spot if you only give them a days’ notice. You should ask them as early as the end of your junior year, or at the beginning of your senior year.
Remember, each section is very important, not only individually, but how they work together to paint a more holistic picture of you as an applicant. Do not rush through these details. Think about all of these logistics carefully, and you will set yourself up for success as you fill out the Common Application .
The first piece that you have to fill out on the Common Application is the Profile section. The Profile section helps the admission officers get an overview of your background. While this portion might seem very straight-forward, these fundamentals matter. As an applicant, there are some important choices you have to make here. Through the following questions, admissions officers get a substantial idea of who you are and where you are from. The Profile section asks for:
If you qualify for the fee waiver, don’t hesitate to check the box. Talk to your guidance counselor if you have any questions about whether or not you qualify.
The family section is divided into:
For filling out information about your parents, you need to know your parents’ marital status, their profession, their educational background information (including their school and graduation year), and their employment status (whether they are employed, retired, homemaker, or deceased). If relevant, your parents’ alma mater counts when colleges consider legacy students if you are applying to the same school. Legacy does not guarantee admission to a college, but it can give students an extra edge.
Your family background is a big part of providing admissions officers a greater context of who you are and where you come from. They want to know if you were raised by a single parent, whether you grew up in a divorced home, whether one of your parents has passed away. This information helps provide admissions counselors with context regarding your familial circumstances. There is no specific answer that colleges are looking for—it will just help them understand your background better.
This section is also for admissions officers to find out if your parents went to college, what your parents do, and their current position. Many colleges value the perspective of first-generation students and look to see if you are coming from that background. They also want to know whether you have a sibling and whether you’re the oldest or the youngest sibling. Your siblings attending the same college also counts as legacy.
The Education section asks for the following information:
A list of honors that could be included are
A good example of listing an honor within the given space is: “1st Place, Intel ISEF, for inventing “Robocop”, robotic biomechanical law enforcement wearable unit”
Within just 99 characters, the student highlighted not only what the prize was but what the prize was for. Abbreviating “first” and the title of the Engineering Fair helped reduce characters. The purpose of the robot reflects the applicant’s Application Persona as a student who is interested in engineering and passionate about social justice.
A student who is interested in business and starting her own company one day can select “Business owner” as part of the Future Plans section.
The Testing section asks you to self-report any tests you have taken, whether standardized tests such as the SAT or ACT ( choose the one that is best for you), or tests based on what you’ve studied in high school, such as the AP or IB, or tests which show your English language proficiency, such as IELTS or TOEFL.
Make sure to look at each of your colleges’ test requirement policies. When self-reporting your test scores, you must be honest. You also have to order your scores to be sent from the Collegeboard or the ACT websites to each individual school.
Note that the Common Application asks you how many times you took the standardized test of your choice. Thus, taking the SAT 5 times and getting a strong score does not help your application stand out!
Many schools allow score choice - where you are able to choose which SAT and ACT scores to report. This enables you to have a certain degree of agency as to which scores colleges see. A lot of schools that accept score choice recommend that you send all scores. Some colleges have a superscore policy , which allows you to pick each of your top sub scores and combine into one superscore if you have taken a standardized test multiple times. Instead of superscoring across test dates, some schools will just look at your highest score from a single sitting. Then, there are colleges that do not require standardized test scores. Currently, due to COVID-19, standardized tests have become optional in many schools. You can find out more about them here .
The Activities section allows you to write about up to ten activities that you’ve participated in throughout high school. You only get 150 characters to sum up each activity, so make sure you are optimizing the space by summarizing your role and impact in each activity. The section asks for the following information:
For Activity type, the Common App provides you with a list to choose from. The options available are:
The activities list gives admissions officers a concrete idea of how you spend your time. With the hours, make sure you are being reasonable, even if it might be difficult to put down the exact hours if there is not a consistent number. Admissions officers can count and will notice if your participation hours exceed the number of hours in a week!
In the description itself, use strong verbs and be as specific as possible. Your achievements should be tangible or quantifiable.
The writing section requires the following:
The personal essay plays a crucial part in showing colleges who you are, and it has a strict word limit of 650 words. Within a little over a page you have to show admissions officers what makes you a unique applicant, a good fit for their school, and tie it all to your Application Persona while displaying strong writing skills. This is not easy! Having a well-written personal statement can be tough, especially when you are a high school student used to writing five-paragraph-essays.
The prompts for the personal statement are as follows:
When brainstorming your Common Application personal statement, remember your Application Persona. How does your personality tie into your Application Persona. Ask yourself questions . How can you take advantage of the prompt to provide your reader with a sense of your personal growth? When choosing your topic, it is very important to remember that the admissions officer will be reading thousands of applications. Think about topics to avoid . Do not write about middle school achievements, about others’ achievements, or try to accomplish too much.
You want to stand out, you want to tell your story, and share some of your biggest passions and important parts of your life. If you talk about a debate competition that you almost didn’t win, admissions officers might not be very engaged or impressed. Lots of applicants win debate competitions. Think strategically about how you can differentiate yourself.
As for the actual writing, pay attention to your narrative structure. Narrate your story by showing the reader your personality and emotions instead of telling. Provide the reader with a theme or a takeaway message. Show them how you’ve grown stronger or how your topic has changed your perspective. Don’t forget to edit and proofread.
The additional information of the Common Application section asks the question:
Do you wish to provide details of circumstances or qualifications not reflected in the application? You may use the space below to provide any additional information you wish to share.
You should always be very careful when filling out this section. Admissions officers go through a lot of applications. You do not want to waste their time with something that could have been mentioned elsewhere in the Common App. It could be used to provide context on whether there is a particular trend in your GPA, or whether any unforeseen circumstances, such as illness or a death in the family, impacted your school performance. You could use it to build upon any research abstract or include your art or writing portfolio. You could also use it to address any disciplinary action that might exist on your record.
This section is not a place to extend your personal essay or add to your activities list. Those word limits and guidelines exist for a reason. You absolutely do not have to fill out this section if you don’t have anything else to add. It will not make or break your application.
In 2020, the Common Application introduced a question for students to outline any changes in circumstances due to COVID-19. The prompt states:
Community disruptions such as COVID-19 and natural disasters can have deep and long-lasting impacts. If you need it, this space is yours to describe those impacts. Colleges care about the effects on your health and well-being, safety, family circumstances, future plans, and education, including access to reliable technology and quiet study spaces.
(250 word maximum)
The Common App COVID-19 question speaks for itself. Within 250 words, you have the opportunity to inform colleges whether the Coronavirus outbreak and social distancing protocols affected your health, family life, and learning abilities. Many students will have experienced disrupted testing dates and summer programs or other plans—and that’s okay to unpack those obstacles here if they were significant and unique issues. Keep in mind that this was a global crisis. Testing cancellations occurred for everyone, students across the world coped with online learning, and more. However, If you experienced bigger problems as a result of the pandemic, provide context for your circumstances, whether it’s unemployment or lack of learning resources at home. You might have fallen ill yourself—or had to take on added responsibilities in your family because your parents were sick. Colleges want to know this kind of information so that they can understand the factors affecting your performance and opportunities this past semester.
You may not be sure about exactly how candid you should be in your response. Remember that first and foremost, the prompt has been introduced for your benefit — to provide colleges with a better understanding of how your life was influenced by the crisis. You won’t be harshly judged if you had significant changes to your life and academics. In fact, it’s meant to serve the opposite. If you’re usually a straight-A student whose grades slipped because they had difficulty keeping up with Zoom classes, let colleges know. Or, if your parents might have faced difficulties with their jobs, use this section to expand on that.
As you think about your response, remember that it is valuable to talk about how you’ve moved forward. If you’re a candidate who has done well even through setbacks — and taken advantage of this time — that can show how you’ve persevered during tough circumstances and made the most out of the hand you’ve been dealt. Be honest in your answer, and if you’ve done well despite the circumstances, admissions officers will certainly make note of it.
Courses & Grades - This section is self-explanatory. Admission officers want to see your academic track record, and what classes you have taken at different levels. Not all of the members of the Common App require your courses and grades . As a result, this section only becomes available if you select one of the schools on the list. Note that even if a school does not require Courses & Grades on the Common App, all of your high school transcripts go to each school. As usual, be careful when transcribing information onto the Common App. You do not want to list a C instead of an A!
Letters of Recommendation - Your teachers, guidance counselors, and other recommenders can submit their letters of recommendation directly on the Common App—you will invite them to contribute through the application platform. Build these relationships as early as possible. Pick people who know you best, understand your background and interests, and can provide perspective on you as a student and a person.
Besides knowing you as a student and person, your recommender should also be familiar with the components of your application and your Application Persona. They should be aware not only of the theme you hope to achieve, but how they can help elevate it in their letter. Talk to them openly about your interests in the major of your choice, about the activities you want to pursue in college, and the extracurriculars from high school that you have tried to highlight in your application. The better your recommender understands what you are aiming for in your application, the stronger their letter will be.
Moreover, make sure your recommender is someone who takes the time to sit down with you, has time to dedicate to a careful letter, and is enthusiastic and excited about your application.
School Specific Essays - A lot of schools have specific questions that they want to ask about your interest in their campus and course offerings specifically. They want to know that you have researched the school and that you are genuinely interested. These questions can include what major you want from their list of majors, and what activities you would partake in at the college. They can also include supplemental essays, usually asking why you want to attend their school. Always be as specific as possible in these essays.
There are countless ways in which you can answer how and why a college appeals to you. For example, if the school you’re applying to is a liberal arts college, you can highlight how the community or small faculty to student ratio appeals to you. If you’re applying to an engineering school, talk about the equipment and facilities available. Mention specific faculty members you might want to do research with. If you’re an athlete, talk about the importance of the team’s spirit if it appeals to you. Talk about alums who have inspired you, about extracurricular opportunities that resonate with you, and how the location might be of importance. If you visited campus, write about what you enjoyed.
Now that you have an idea of what each Common Application section is like, you are all set to begin your application process. To start, you have to go to the Common Application website, and first create an account . You can then start adding your school list and going through the sections to understand the requirements for each . You can always come back to this guide for tips and tricks, as well as visit any of the blogs linked on this blog to get more detailed information on how to approach each section.
Time to start tackling your college applications. Good luck!
