The makers of the Common Application, known familiarly as “the Common App,” last week announced big changes that will first affect current high school juniors, and then – at least until the Committee gets the urge to tweak it again – all younger students in turn.
For those who are unfamiliar with the college application “game” (and by “game,” I mean something akin to medieval torture), the Common App was designed to allow applicants to fill in their basic information (name, address, interests, grades, scores) once rather than over and over for each college application. Moreover, the Common App allows the student to write one mighty, well-crafted, heavily reviewed and edited masterpiece essay that all schools (at least all schools that accept the Common App) will accept. It should have been a boon to those applying to many colleges, as most students now do. (My older son applied to 12 colleges; my younger son applied to 14!) Sadly, while it is a great help to guidance counselors who used to have to mail hard copies of transcripts and recommendations to all those colleges, the Common App has not been much help to the average bedraggled college applicant.
Here’s what went wrong with the Common App: Each college, in its quest to appear unique, takes advantage of the opportunity to require a supplement, which includes questions on legacy (family members who attended that college), major, and, of course, another essay or two – or three. These supplements, over the past few years, have gotten longer and more complicated, and have substantially eroded any benefit the common app had to high school kids.
So what are these big changes?
1. The activity essay is gone. Too bad. I rather liked that one. It asked students to expand upon a particular after-school activity that they do and explain why it is important to them in under 150 words. Gone.
2. The three submission areas – application, supplement, and fee – have been consolidated into two submissions, with the supplement now part of the application. Sort of (read on).
3. The supplement ESSAYS are now a distinct submission, which means you can submit your application now and finish the essays later, as long as the whole thing is done before the deadline. Sort of cancels the benefit of combining three submissions into two, doesn’t it? We’re now back to three submissions for each college, and three chances to fail to complete your application by only submitting one or two of the three required submissions.
4. Download-able, paper versions of the forms have been eliminated. I’ve always advised students to print out a blank copy of the Common App and complete that in pencil before completing the form online. The Common App times out if you take too long between answers. So while you look up your guidance counselor’s fax number or while you call your dad at work to find out what year he graduated from college, you’re timed out. You did hit “save,” right? Well, maybe it saved, and maybe it didn’t. The best strategy is to fill out the application hard copy, and then you can type in your answers all at once.
TIP: Print out a hard copy of the application NOW before they delete it this summer. It will be a little different from the version you fill out online, but the questions will be the same.
5. You can no longer upload the Common App main essay. You can either type it directly onto the form (not a good idea – too easy to overlook a typo), or you can select, save, and paste (much safer). Still, it’s an annoying extra step.
6. The Common App essay topics have changed drastically. There is no longer a “topic of your choice” choice. There are only five choices (click here and scroll down), and you have to pick one.
TIP: It may seem early to you, but there’s no harm in starting to think about the topics NOW. You might try writing an essay for each topic, or at least two or three. Write a few essays and put them aside for a month or two. Coming at them after a break will give you a fresh perspective. Are they still interesting and relevant? Would your best friend’s mom or your aunt find it interesting? Keep thinking, and you’ll be ready to tackle the essay in earnest over the summer.
7. The length of the Common App essay has changed. For many years, it was a maximum of 500 words. Three or four years ago, they changed it to a minimum of 250 words with no upper limit. Bad idea. The upper limit of 500 words came back quickly. The new limit will be a minimum of 250 words and a new upper limit of 650 words. 650 is a maximum, not a suggested target. A 500-word essay might fit your needs better. Wordier is not necessarily smarter or more clever or more engaging. And they will cut you off at 650. Not 651. You don’t want them to think you don’t know how to follow directions, do you?
8. A new optional “additional information” essay has been added. Some colleges used to include this in their supplement, but it will now be part of the standard Common App. If you truly have nothing else to say, don’t feel you need to fill this section up with trivial information. But if you need to explain bad grades (did you move from town to town?) or excessive absences (did you have to take care of an ailing parent?) or a lack of activities (were you required to babysit younger siblings so your parents could work?), use this space to explain what might look like a serious negative on your application.
9. The arts supplement will be hosted off-site, and the athletic supplement will be discontinued.
10. You will be able to edit your application (but not the essay) after your first submission. So, if you notice you made a mistake after you submit one application, you can correct it before the next application. HOORAY! The inability to correct a mistake has always been my primary objection to the Common App. Can I say it again? HOORAY!!
There are other minor changes, but these are the big changes that were announced recently.
If you need help on the applications or essays over the summer or in the fall, you know where to find me!
Wendy Segal
High School 2 College 
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