Topic of the Month
Topic of the Month: Common Application
If each part of the application were to be ranked in order of importance, what is most important to the admissions officer?
Your transcript is by far the first thing that any college is going to look at. They’ll look at the rigorousness of your courses, grades in your courses, grade trends, class rank, SAT and SCT scores, SAT subject scores, AP scores, and IB scores because they need to know that you can handle the work at their school. The second question they ask is “who are we inviting to our campus?” Then they go into the personal side. What are the most common application mistakes? A) Not following directions. Read the fine print. If an essay has a word limit, follow it. If they say you can attach a sheet of paper, be sure you don’t attach sheets of paper. Some students may not fill it out completely or they may send in too many things. B) Another is redundancy. A student may write two essays on similar topics. You want each of your essays to be about different things. C) When they attach their resume, they may list their courses or SAT scores on it. The school already has this information. Are optional essays really optional? Yes, but I always encourage my students to write them because you are being given the opportunity to say something new and different about yourself. How do you integrate the brag sheet into the application? You can upload your brag sheet into the application. What do you suggest—online or paper applications? I definitely suggest online. Unless your computer is broken or you have an art portfolio to send in, admissions officers want it sent online. Save a copy of everything you send in case it gets lost. How serious are they about the deadline? Very serious. You need to get your applications in on time or you will not be considered. Do you recommend doing the Common Application over the school’s application? It depends. In some cases the Common Application plus the supplements will let you write more about yourself, and in some cases the school’s application will let you do that. If they’re the same, use the Common Application because you can use it at other schools. I have an art and writing portfolio. How many pieces should I send? How much extra material is appropriate to send? First of all, find out if your colleges will allow you to send in extra materials. If they do, you may want to send your art or writing portfolio to the head of the art or English department, in addition to sending it with your application.
The Common Application A general application form used by over 150 independent colleges that is available on-line.
www.commonapp.org
