I’m very confused about the idea of a Common App. What is it, exactly? It seems to be a shorter application than the rest, but if applying to a college you want to go to, wouldn’t you want to take the time to do that college’s specific application? How do colleges look at the Common App…meaning do they prefer it or advise against it? Sorry for so many questions, I’m just confused!
<p><em>bump for responses</em></p>
<p>LnkinPrk777</p>
<p>The Common Application is accepted by a large number of colleges. The website claims over 150 schools accept it. It allows you to complete the demographic information, ECs, the test score questions, short answer and essays once, if you so desire. Many more selective schools require a supplement as well, in the form of more questions and more essays. Several of the most selective schools, such as Yale, Harvard and Swarthmore now exclusively use the Common App, but have supplemental questions. It is a time-saving device, and from my experience watching two kids go through the application process, it does NOT hurt to use the Common App. Check out <a href="http://www.commonapp.org%5B/url%5D">www.commonapp.org</a> for lots of info!</p>
<p>can anyone that used the common application to apply to selective colleges tell me how to fill out the ec's part. i was told to list seven in the actual application, and then attach a list of the others with a short explanation. Where should I put my most important ec's and should I relist the first seven.
Thanks for your imput on this</p>
<p>What you have been advised to do it what we did. In my son's case, he listed the most important EC's on the Common App . . . they grouped naturally into athletics, the arts, and community service. </p>
<p>Then, on the resume, he had distinct categories delineated, and listed the EC's from the common app again, then listed other things that were important but not as crucial as the former, along with short explanations if needed. This made it possible for him to send this exact resume to the two schools that did not use the common app. He found that even with Brown, where he did their app on-line (they don't accept the common app) he was able to upload the resume exactly as he had formatted it.</p>
<p>thanks thats what i believe i will do. did you use any specific type of formatting or bulleting???...or just subcategories?
also can you give an example of a small explanation?
thank you again</p>
<p>I just got a copy of resume to refer to. S has it divided into: </p>
<p>Academic Honors
Leadership Positions and Awards
Athletic Participation, Leadership and Honors
Community Service/Church Involvement
Theatrical Experience
Musical Activities
Work Experience</p>
<p>Each subcategory is in bold, and the activities or honors are simply listed below, after skipping a space under the category heading, with the year(s) of participation noted and hours per week as appropriate. A small explanation was needed to describe school positions unique to the school, or to explain that the number of hours per week on the Honor Council varied according to need, stuff like that.</p>
<p>It looks very readable, and allows the ad com to see quickly the depth of involvement and relative importance of the activities.</p>
<p>So is there even any benefit to NOT use the Common App? I mean, do colleges look at it the exact same?</p>
<p>They claim that they do. </p>
<p>Here is a thread that might interest you:</p>