Can somebody explain the "common app" to me please?

Applying to College Common and Coalition Application
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<p>So I think my question is pretty implicit from the title of this thread, but I was wondering a few things.</p>

<p>1) What is the common app exactly?
2) When should i make a common app if I am applying ED and need to get my app done as fast as possible.</p>

<p>I am sorry if this is a prosaic question for some people to answer, yet, I am really confused about the common app vs normal app. Thank you guys for understanding.</p>

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<p>The Common Application allows you to fill out one application (in theory) and submit it to multiple schools.</p>

<p><a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/default.aspx[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/default.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Instead of filling out a separate application form for each school, you simply fill out the Common Application, pay a fee for each school, and then submit it. The Common App system automatically makes sure that the application form gets to each school you want to apply to. This also includes the School Report your counselor fills out, your teacher evaluations, and the midyear report some schools require. This greatly cuts down on the amount of stress and paperwork a student has to keep up with. I believe the only thing you have to send under separate cover is the transcript.</p>

<p>Some (most?) schools have supplements that you have to fill out. These are usually one or two pages of extra questions that are not on the Common App, but that these individual schools want to know. Sometimes these supplements require an extra essay or recommendation.</p>

<p>If you want to apply ED – ED deadlines are still a ways off, but you would begin the Common Application around the same time that you would begin an individual application for an ED school. For example, if the ED application deadline is November 15, you’d probably want to start in late September at the latest. You might want to write your essays and solicit letters of recommendation earlier than that.</p>

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<ol>
<li>The Common Application is a standardized application form accepted by many colleges. Some colleges accept the Common App in lieu of their own application form; some accept only the Common App. Some colleges require a college-specific “supplement” to the Common App (usually a few questions and an extra essay or two); some don’t. See <a href=“http://www.commonapp.org/[/url]”>http://www.commonapp.org/&lt;/a&gt; for more details.</li>
<li>You can start as early as July 1(-ish). When you’ll need to submit it depends on the deadline of the college you’re applying to. Most ED deadlines I’m aware of are in early November. If you use commonapp.org to manage your applications, you will see the deadlines for each college right there in your account.</li>
</ol>

<p>Good luck!</p>