<p>Hey guys, I'm a rising senior and a soon-to-be lunatic because all this talk about college from my parents is driving me nuts.</p>
<p>Anyways... </p>
<p>I'm just curious as to how the Common Application process actually works... i'm a first generation college student and have absolutely no idea how this is all going to work out once I have to start applying.</p>
<p>is everything via email? how do i send transcripts? recommendation letters? supplements?</p>
<p>what can i do now and what should i do as soon as school starts?</p>
<p>(if it helps, the three schools I'm applying to are American University, Emerson College and University of Miami in FL)</p>
<p>Start by doing a bit of homework. Almost all rising high school seniors are “first generation common app applicants”. Go to <a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/default.aspx[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/default.aspx</a> and study with care. Talk to your high school counselor. Educate your parents since they probably need to “pay” the application fees, and that is also done through the common app,</p>
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<p>In practice your school will send transcripts and recommendation letters through the common app infrastructure. Your task is to let your counselor and/or registrar know where you’re applying and who is providing your recommendations.</p>
<p>From your (and your parents) point view everything can be done via the internet. There is no “email” involved.</p>
<p>Your first step is to register with the common app organization (see the link above). Do that sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>Finally why are you being driven nuts? From your post it seems like you need the push. It’s not a good start to the long and sometimes complex process of college applications.</p>
<p>Thanks for replying! 
They’re driving me crazy by asking me tons of questions i don’t know the answers to, and they’re very demanding… I just don’t want to mess up and disappoint them.</p>
<p>I’ve already made a Common App account… and I’ve heard the application comes out in august or something? What is the first thing i should do, and what should i focus more of my attention on?</p>
<p>dude, your account is going to be vanished in August. lol :D</p>
<p>so i won’t actually be able to do anythingggggg until then? besides work on the essays?</p>
<p>I’m applying in this fall too. I’ve started to work on my essays . The supplements to common app don’t change that much in basic idea. So, I’m working with some of those to complete a good application. Asked teachers to write recommendation letters for me . When the common app comes out at August, I’ll give them the form and they will attach those recommendations and I’ll send them to places. I did that because I’m retaking SAT in October and subject test in november. So, I won’t get much time for these at that time.</p>
<p>If I’m remembering correctly, if the teachers you are asking for recs are at all computer savvy you don’t have to send anything. They can post their letter on the app itself and whatever schools you apply to download it from their end.</p>
<p>That’s the problem. In my school, the professors aren’t tech savvy. Maybe I’ll need to send all the required document via courier. 32$/ application. That sucks. Because it’ll cost around $100-120$ to apply to a single school. :mad:</p>
<p>I wish my teachers were tech savvy.</p>
<p>Many schools don’t have an application fee if you go through the Common App.
You’re “limited” to 20 schools though and of course some of your favorite schools are likely to have a fee (it goes from $35 to $75 per school, but if you qualify via your counselor you can get a fee waiver).</p>
<p>You can’t start your account but you can already
1° work on your essays - choose two prompts that inspire you
<a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/CA4.aspx[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/CA4.aspx</a></p>
<p>2° Give 2-3 teachers a printed version of the recommendation form, tell them you’ll invite them in the Fall to fill it out for you on the CommonApp website but that they can use the form for their draft if they wish. Tell them they’ll access the same form online and will only have to submit it, with the written paragraph the only thing to upload.</p>
<p>3° Type up your resume so that you have all information about leadership positions, awards, etc, at the ready</p>
<p>wait, do we need two essays for the commonapp, I thought we only needed one?</p>
<p>What does that mean, your account is going to be “vanished in August” … ?</p>
<p>It means that each year the common app site clears the accounts (and data) from the previous year. If you have tried to get a head start by making an account early, be sure to save your work because you will need to create a new account on or after Aug. 1.</p>
<p>… and that’s exactly what I did. Ha ha. Thanks for the tip, though. I was just able to print everything out so I can enter it again. Most of the stuff was easy except looking up the codes for my parents schools and getting their stuff straight was a bit of a pain. Whenever I got the chance to ask them they would get sidetracked telling me about their college experiences, and I was like, that’s ok mom, I just need to know what degree you got, not the blow by blow.</p>
<p>So I think I have it all printed out now. Did I read somewhere that the essay topics might change between this year and the next cycle? I hope I ride that one through. I already banged one of them out.</p>
<p>I just looked at the new topics. With great relief I reaiize I can pretty easily tweak the one I finished to conform to one of the new subjects. I had written on a topic of my choice but it’s still extremely close and should be fine.</p>
<p>Feel a lot better now. I have a really hairy fall at school and just don’t want to worry about applications in addition to everything else on my plate. The more I can get done this summer, the better.</p>