It's show time! Complete the Common App

Introduction to the Common App

The Common App is an online platform through which you can apply to up to 20 colleges. Around 1,000 universities are on the Common App, but not all schools use it. For example, MIT, Georgetown, and UC schools are not on the Common App and have their own application systems. Through the Common App, you can submit applications, essays, and letters of recommendation all in one place. It is a very convenient platform that makes the application process easier.

Inside the Common App, you create your college list and fill out the following sections:

• Family
• Education
• Activities
• Writing (your essays)
• Courses & Grades

Set up your account

To begin, go to the Common App starting page, click "Create account" and select "First Year students" if you are applying as a freshman.

Then, continue filling out the following sections:

• Email
• Password
• Legal name (must match your passport)
• Last/family name
• Date of birth
• Phone number

🗣️ veronica says...

Veronica Lee

Admissions Expert

For your email address, please use a professional format like [email protected]. Adding numbers is acceptable, but avoid awkward emails like [email protected].

Profile Section + Common App fee Waiver

The Common App includes a set of standard questions asked by all universities, covering topics like your background and educational information. You only need to fill these out once, and they will be sent to all colleges you apply to. The Profile section is one of these standard sections.

This section is straightforward, but here are a few important things to keep in mind:

Personal Information: Your first and last names must be your legal names (exactly as they appear in your passport)

Demographics: If you don't immediately see an option that applies to you, select the broad category first. For example, if you are White, select "White" and then look for an "Other" option where you can specify your background. For instance, someone from Uzbekistan would select: White → Other → Central Asian

Languages: Only list languages in which you are truly proficient. If you cannot hold a basic conversation in a language, do not include it as one of your languages.

Geography and Nationality: When asked "Do you intend to apply for a new or different U.S. Visa?", select "Yes" and choose "F-1 Student" visa type. (Select this option unless you already have a green card.)

Common App fee waiver

If you are a low-income international student and paying application fees would be a significant financial burden, you may qualify for fee waivers. The most relevant option is most likely to be: You can provide a supporting statement from a school official, college access counselor, financial aid officer, or community leader. If you select this option, your college counselor (or principal acting as college counselor) will need to verify it. In this case, select the option and sign with your full name.

The next section is Family. It's straightforward and takes about 5 minutes to complete. If you're unsure about any information, ask your family members to provide the correct details.

Education Section

The Education section is very important - you'll provide details about your high school, grades, and achievements. Here's how to handle a key part:

Current or most recent secondary/high school: If your school isn't listed, scroll down and select "I don't see my high school in this list." You can then enter your school's details manually.

Gap year

If you took a gap year, check "Did or will take gap year" and you'll need to provide a "Gap Year Statement" explaining why you took it and what you did during that time. If you didn't take a gap year and followed a regular high school schedule, select "No change in progression."

Other Secondary/High School: If you attended multiple high schools, you need to provide details for each one. Remember that high schools are grades 9-12, so you only need to add schools you attended during those years. If you changed schools in grade 4, you don't need to add it. If you changed schools, you will to provide an explanation for why you did so.

Grades: When you fill out this section, talk to your counselor/principal first! It's important that everything you report here matches what your counselor submits. For example, if you indicate you have a class rank but your counselor says you don't, this creates confusion.

• Graduating class size is the total number of students who will graduate with you in the same year.
• Class rank: If you don't have one, select "None." If you do have a class rank, there are two common ways to report it:
  • Exact is your actual numerical rank (example: 3/200)
  • Decile shows your rank as a percentage (example: Top 10%)
• GPA Scale reporting refers to the maximum possible grade in your school's system - what number are your grades calculated out of?
• Cumulative GPA is your average of all grades from grade 9 through your current semester or quarter:
• Weighted GPA means grades are scaled based on course difficulty - harder courses are worth more
• Unweighted GPA means every subject has the same weight, which is most common for international students

Current or Most Recent Year Courses: List all the courses you're currently taking this year. Keep your school schedule with you to make sure you don't miss any classes. You may have anywhere from 2 to 20 classes to report, depending on your school. For regular classes (which is most common for international students, without any advanced placement or honors), select "Regular/Standard" for Course level.

Honors: In this section, list up to 5 academic or non-academic awards, scholarships, Olympiads, or other achievements from recent years. Don't worry if you don't have many awards - that's perfectly OKAY!

🗣️ veronica says...

Veronica Lee

Admissions Expert

As an international student, your awards are likely from your home country and may not be familiar to admissions committees. Make the most of the 100-character limit to provide context for each award and explain any abbreviations. This helps admissions officers understand the significance of your achievements.

Testing Section

Here you can report scores from standardized tests like ACT, SAT/SAT Subject, AP, IB, Cambridge, TOEFL, PTE Academic, IELTS, and Duolingo English Test. If you need more information about these tests, check English Proficiency chapter and Standardized Tests chapter.

Remember that while you'll self-report scores in the Common App, most universities require official scores sent directly from testing agencies (like College Board for SAT). Always review each university's specific testing requirements and policies.

In the same section, you will also see the following question:

If your country has national exams (like the Unified National Test/ЕНТ in Kazakhstan or ЕГЭ in Russia), indicate this in your application. If you're still in high school and haven't taken these exams yet, enter '0' for number of examinations taken. If you took a gap year and completed these exams, report your scores for each subject separately.

Activities Section

This is one of the most important sections of the Common App where you'll list up to 10 of your extracurricular activities. For detailed instructions on how to fill this out, see Extracurricular Activities Description chapter.

When listing your activities, put the most significant ones first. Your top 3 activities should show high commitment, and at least one should relate to your intended major. Place less significant activities lower on the list.

Writing section + Additional Information

In this section, you'll submit your Common App personal statement (covered in Personal Statement chapter and available for review in the Essay Review tool).

You can also provide additional information about:

• Significant events that affected your academic performance
• Important family or health circumstances
• Extra details about your activities
• Additional awards that didn't fit in Honors
• Unique aspects of your school or country not mentioned elsewhere

Do not include:

• An extra essay
• Minor hobbies or activities that don't strengthen your application

🗣️ veronica says...

Veronica Lee

Admissions Expert

Keep the Additional Information section clear and concise. Remember that admissions officers have many applications to read - they don't want to review unnecessary information.

Creating your College List

Now that your general application is complete, you can add your universities. Go to the College Search tab, search each university by name, and click "Add" to put it on your list. You can add up to 20 colleges through Common App. If you can't find a university, check their website - they might use their own application system instead of Common App.

To get help with building your College List, refer to College Search chapter.

Once you've added your universities, you'll see them all listed under the My Colleges tab.

Every college you add will show important information including application deadlines, fees, scholarships, testing requirements, and other key details.

Each college will have its own specific questions that vary by school. This is also where you and your parent will need to sign the Early Decision agreement if you're applying Early Decision.

Writing page is where you'll find each college's supplemental questions. For help with writing supplemental essays, check Supplemental Essays chapter.

🗣️ veronica says...

Veronica Lee

Admissions Expert

Make sure to complete all supplemental questions and essays, even if marked as optional. Ask yourself: if you're not motivated to write a supplemental essay, how much do you really want to attend that university? Consider nothing optional!

Adding your Counselor and Recommenders

To invite recommenders, go to any college on your list and select 'Recommenders and FERPA' on the left side. The invitations will apply to all colleges on your list, so you only need to invite each person once. Note that you can only add recommenders after completing the Education section.

First you'll need to complete the FERPA Release Authorization. When asked if you waive your right to review recommendations, select "I waive my right..." This means you won't be able to see what your recommenders write about you.

After completion, you can invite teachers, counselors, and other recommenders. You'll see whether letters are required or optional for each school, and how many letters they accept. Letter requirements vary by university. For guidance on recommendation letters, see Recommendations chapter.

When you invite recommenders, they'll receive an email from Common App notifying them that you've added them. They'll then be prompted to create a Common App account (or use their existing one) and complete the necessary steps.

This is what the email looks like for the recommender

Counselor

The counselor needs to complete their Profile first, providing a lot of detailed information about themselves and the school. They can upload a PDF of the school profile on their Profile page, which is highly recommended. Since this takes time, ask your counselor to start this process early.

The counselor will need to upload several required documents:

• School report (transcript with your grades and other information)
• Counselor letter of recommendation
• Mid-year grades (when available)
• Final grades (when available)

Teacher

Your teachers have a simpler task - they only need to submit their letter of recommendation and answer these questions:

• Duration and context of knowing you as a student
• Words that best describe you
• Grade levels when they taught you
• List of courses they taught you, including difficulty level

Other Recommender

The "Other Recommender" section is similar - they only need to provide a letter of recommendation. Some colleges restrict the types of "Other" recommenders they accept. For example, Bates College only allows:

• Arts Teacher
• Clergy
• Coach
• College Access Counselor
• Employer

If you want a letter from someone outside these categories (like an exchange program coordinator), email the university to ask if that person can send their letter directly. If approved, have your recommender email it to the university.

Once you finish this process for one university, your recommenders will be saved in the system. For additional colleges, you'll just need to assign these already-invited recommenders to each school.

You'll be able to track your recommenders' submission status on this page. When they submit their letters, it will show up here. If they haven't submitted as the deadline approaches, remember to send them a reminder.

Submitting your Common App

Once you complete all sections, you'll see green checkmarks for each. A missing checkmark means something is incomplete. Remember that all questions with a red star (*) must be answered.

When everything has green checks, you can review your entire application as a PDF. Download it to show others before submitting. Review thoroughly - this is important!

Next, you'll pay the application fee (or confirm fee waiver if requested), sign with your full name, and submit.

After submitting one application, you can still make changes to submit to other schools. Changes won't affect applications you've already submitted.

Once submitted, colleges will send you details to access your applicant portal. There you can track your application status and check if all materials have been received.