The Common Application is a not-for-profit organization that serves students and member institutions by providing an admission application that students may submit to any of 488 colleges and universities.
YES! College and university members have worked together over the past 35 years to develop the application. All members fully support its use and all give equal consideration to the Common Application and the college's own form. Many members use the Common Application as their only undergraduate admission application.
The “new” Common Application will
make its debut next summer. It’s the result of an $8-million revamp of the
online system that’s designed to handle an ever-increasing volume of
applications from around the globe. As of August 1, students, college
counselors, and admissions officers will see several changes intended to
improve the user experience. Since many students begin to complete the required essays for the Common over the summer, look for the "brand new" essays prompts to be revealed in March.
•Students see relevant questions only
•Sidebar help for each question
•At-a-glance progress checks
•Online only
•Single submission for application and payments
•Additional Information: Text only, no uploads
•Address verification and cleaning
•Slide room integration replaces Arts Supplement
•Students will self-report eligibility
•If eligible, waiver will apply across all colleges
•Counselor confirmation still required
•Word count enforced at both ends of range
•Text-entry, no uploads
•New topics announced every year in March
Changes begin on Aug. 1, 2013
