<p>Hey everyone, this is another very paranoid rising senior. I somehow managed to fit as much as I can within the "Details and Accomplishments" part of each EC. However, when previewing the way the App looks, I notice that most of these are cut-off by a good three or four words. Is this what colleges will see too?</p>
<p>Huh I just saw this on my App too. Good catch. I sure hope not. </p>
<p>Also, my input under the Demographics section came out as XEA as opposed to the country I said my parents were from…</p>
<p>I emailed them and got this as a response:
However, last year someone in these forums asked them and they said it was totally fine as long as you entered it right, because the Print Preview isn’t always right.</p>
<p>For me, print preview cuts off my parents’ jobs (which aren’t long o.O) and my EC descriptions.</p>
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<p>Ugh. It was hard enough to fit it under the Common App restriction, let alone the Print Preview restriction.</p>
<p>how do you print preview ?</p>
<p>there’s a preview button near the top of the screen when you are logged in to your draft app</p>
<p>Yeah, I noticed this as well! It cut off my mom’s job, my dad’s grad school, my current courses, and a few of my extracurriculars, but you could really get the gist of all of them, so I’m not worried.</p>
<p>I’d cut it down.</p>
<p>Instead of emailing the Common App people, has anyone emailed college admissions offices and asked THEM how THEY end up viewing the Common App? Will it be like this Print Preview, or will it be how WE view it (with text boxes and everything), or will it be entirely different?</p>
<p>Virtually all Common App member colleges are going to read your Common App in the same format as you see it in the PDF preview. Some colleges print, some use document imaging systems, but they all use that same PDF view to read the apps.</p>
<p>That said, the colleges are aware that some things get truncated. I wouldn’t worry too much about it unless the missing words or letters materially changes the content of your answer.</p>
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<p>This is working correctly. The Common App Online uses codes on the PDF for the race/demo information since there isn’t enough space to print out the full info.</p>
<p>Fear not, the member colleges know this and understand what that code means.</p>
<p>Cut it down. I had a similar problem last year except I wrote in the “Additional Information” section. When I clicked print preview I saw that nearly half of my words where cut off. I went ahead and emailed Common App support and basically got the response “what you see in print preview is what the Universities see”. It makes sense and I’ve seen this belief on these forums.</p>
<p>Just cut it down and you should be fine.</p>
<p>EDIT: I actually found the actual email I sent them.</p>
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<p>This was their response:
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<p>[Email</a> Reponse](<a href=“ImageShack - Best place for all of your image hosting and image sharing needs”>ImageShack - Best place for all of your image hosting and image sharing needs)</p>
<p>Ahaha short and concise responses. Very helpful.</p>
<p>Mitch… Common App online is not the same as Print Preview.</p>
<p>@miss_murd3r</p>
<p>This is what I thought but apparently it is. If you refer back to my other post you’ll see I posted a link with the actual response email I received. </p>
<p>It actually makes sense. Think about it. Why would “your” print preview version of the Common App be different than what the colleges see? Besides some minute details it should all be similar.</p>
<p>I understand what you’re saying. If it’s any consolation…when I was doing it last year, I cut down on the words.</p>
<p>If you go to the Knowledge Base on the Common App, under Completing the App, Signature section, it seems to me that what you see on print preview is what the schools will see. I suggest reviewing the entire Knowledge Base before starting the common app. Most of your questions will be answered there.</p>
<p>Actually, the colleges have two methods of viewing the common app. 1) they see what you see through the print preview 2) they can see an electronic version of the form with everything that you have entered.</p>
<p>Of course, the first method is more convenient so we don’t know that they will choose to look at the electronic one with everything. But, if they do want to, they can see the rest of the responses as well.</p>
<p>@ Kjiggy are you sure?
I have no idea which is which and would like to know as well…</p>