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"The Common Application" How common is it, really?


momofkhm
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I'm trying to look into getting a form ready for dd's transcript. (If I do it as I go along, it's not as much work at the end, right?) I wanted to see how much space there was on the application form for extra curricular activities and came across a link to The Common Application from my alma mater. I see that there are almost 400 colleges and universities that accept it, but really, how many of your kids actually did use it?

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I'm trying to look into getting a form ready for dd's transcript. (If I do it as I go along, it's not as much work at the end, right?) I wanted to see how much space there was on the application form for extra curricular activities and came across a link to The Common Application from my alma mater. I see that there are almost 400 colleges and universities that accept it, but really, how many of your kids actually did use it?

 

Only 1 of the 5 dd#1 applied to used it. I think it's more regional/privates that use it. On the other hand, our state system has the same type of thing for all the state schools under facts.org.

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My teen applied to ten (gulp!) colleges. One of the ten, our state college, did not use the Common Application. One other had a special (less involved) application that she was invited to use after interviewing. So, all in all, she used the Common Application for eight applications. Bear in mind, that almost all of those colleges had a supplement unique to their own institution, so she still had to do a lot of work.

 

My experience is that the Common Application is accepted by more private (and selective) institutions than public ones.

 

Regards,

Kareni

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We did have two other schools on the list that did accept the CA, but ds decided not to apply to those after all.

 

All of the applications he did were on line and so the forms were either fillable PDF types or were forms that you uploaded files and added attachments. It is definitely easier as you pointed out though to start early and build it as you go. We didn't have any trouble fitting in all his activities on the forms.

 

Another thought....some schools actually asked for a Resume. That was a new one for me.

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Both of my kids applied to 2-3 colleges with the Common App.

 

The hard decision was with the colleges that both had their own app and accepted the Common App -- does taking the time to fill in the specialized school app make the applicant appear more interested in the school?

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Both of my kids applied to 2-3 colleges with the Common App.

 

The hard decision was with the colleges that both had their own app and accepted the Common App -- does taking the time to fill in the specialized school app make the applicant appear more interested in the school?

 

My son applied to 8 schools, including our state flagship, and all took the common app.

 

I would think that if a student used the Common App and submitted it a few days before the deadline to a school he/she had never visited or contacted, then that would look bad. If I were an admissions person at that school, I would guess that the student really wasn't interested in my institution.

 

However, if a student who has visited the school and expressed interest months before the application deadline submits the Common App, I don't think it would reflect poorly on his/her interest in the school.

 

I think that more and more schools are going to on-line or computerized review of applications, and that they will start to prefer on-line submission if they don't already.

 

JM2Cents,

Brenda

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  • 1 month later...

Two of the schools to which my son is applying require the common app. Two use either it or their homegrown application. The state school has its own.

 

My son notes that one of the schools that accepts either the CA or its own has a terrific essay question that he really wants to answer.

 

That leaves the fourth school--common app or its app. He has not decided.

 

All of this reminded me of this thread that I recalled reading in the summer. If I am thinking about this stuff, I suspect others are as well.

 

Any more thoughts??

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I think I have great resource for you.

 

Here is a link to some really nice webinars on YouTube. They have one on the common app, how to plan your test schedule, one on score choice, and one on the US New and World report college list. I think they are really helpful. Most are a couple or three segments long because YouTube limits the size to about 10 minutes each.

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/PrepMatters#play/uploads

 

When you mouse over the list on the right, it tells you which part each segment is so you can watch them in the right order. Nothing splashy, but really good info.

 

Hope this helps

Sharon

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I have two sons at the same state college. They both applied with the paper application the college sent to them. The college has an online form that they said was prefered, but the whole application process was so tense in the first place with the older one that I thought it would put him over the edge to be doing it online. We xeroxed the form and he got it all filled out, I proofed it, and then he did the final one. The second son filled his out when he was not at home, so we used the paper one with him, too. We paid the small fee to apply via paper. I don't think the common application is even an option at this particular college. Many of the questions on the application were specific to this particular college, so I think they decided that the common application wouldn't save people much time.

-Nan

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Three colleges used it - Case Western Reserve, Carnegie Mellon, Renssellaer Polytechnic. However, each of them had their "special" questions that required a fee with submission. So much for saving money. It did save time though.

 

None of the state schools accepted it.

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