Starting August 1, the new Common App will be available for students to complete. The CA4, as it’s called, will have a few notable changes:

• The online experience will improve–The questions will be tailored to each individual student’s relevant information, with help available onscreen alongside each question. The app will offer continuous status checks so students can keep track of their progress; and the school code search has been streamlined.
• The Arts and Athletics portion of the application have changed–The Arts Supplement will be replaced by Slideroom.com for easy integration with the application. The Athletic Supplement will be discontinued and become a part of the application itself.
• There will no longer be the option to print and mail your application–You can no longer print your application and mail it to the colleges. Students can print to preview, but all applications must be submitted online.
• There will be unlimited edits–Recognizing the need to edit the Common App for errors or updating information, students can now make unlimited edits.
• Students can have three submitted essay versions–The essay can have a maximum of three submitted versions, allowing students to make corrections and updates.

The Common App has also improved how it collects the information from the student throughout the application process.

When August 1st rolls around, it’s a good idea to take a look, fill out the parts of the application you know will not change, and save it for later completion. Doing this over the summer allows your student has time to pay close attention to detail and become familiar with the application components.

To view a more detailed explanation of the changes for this year, check out C4: The New Common Application. 

2010-2011 Common Application

If you’re on Twitter and would like to get some more information, you can attend a chat TODAY at 3PM PST for “Everything Common App”. Just use the  #collegejoin twitter chat hashtag and follow along. If you can’t make it, you can always review the tweets at a later time.

The Common Application is used by 391 member institutions. The benefits? You can fill out ONE application and submit it to any participating college. The same is true of the School Report, Midyear Report, Final Report and Teacher Evaluation forms. This saves your college-bound teen time and that translates into more time available for the other important college admissions tasks.

Last night I sat down for an hour and watched a web presentation at College Week Live about the the Common Application. It was basically a question/answer session where the Director of Outreach for the Common Application gave a brief synopsis of what the Common Application was and then fielded questions that were posted online.

Here are the basic highlights:

1. The Common Application service is COMPLETELY FREE and has a membership of 391 colleges.
2. The busiest day of the year for the service is December 31st because students are trying to get in under the wire for the January 1 application deadlines.
3. There is 24/7 online support, but NO telephone support. The average response time is 47 minutes via email.
4. Your teachers and counselors can submit their recommendations and forms online if they choose.
5. There are videos to help you with any questions you might have and an extensive knowledge base of articles.

Some Questions and Answers:

Q. Do colleges prefer their own application over the common application?

No. The common application and the college application are treated as equals. If a college is part of the Common Application membership, they receive it just as they receive their own college application.

Q. When can you start completing the application?

Each year the applications are purged (in the summer) to make room for new applications in the fall. You can get in and play with the applications, practice, familiarize yourself with it, whenever you choose. If you want to look at it as a freshman in high school, it’s perfectly acceptable because it will get purged in the summer. Once you are ready to apply to the colleges, you will want to do begin the process in the fall of the year you apply to prepare for submission.

Q. Why do some colleges add supplements and other do not?

The supplements give colleges the ability to gather information that they might consider unique to their institution. Some colleges need additional information, others find the application itself sufficient.

Q. Do you have to complete the common application AND the college’s application?

A. No. Once you complete the common application and submit it to the colleges you choose, you are finished.

Q. Do colleges prefer the online application or the paper one?

Colleges PREFER online applications over paper because it saves them time inputting data and enables them to share the information easily with others and read online. NOTE: DO NOT complete the online application and send a paper version. Do one or the other. It will complicate the situation and cause all sorts of problems with your application.

If you would like to view the hour long session, you can go to College Week Live, sign in and look for it in archived presentations.