<p>is available online. This is not yet the official version of the form that will be used by applicants this fall, but it is possible to look at yellow highlighted areas on the online .PDF document to see changes in the new version of the Common Application. One significant change is that the Common Application now includes a space for self-reporting AP test (or IB test) scores. </p>
<p>The ethnic self-identification question, discussed in a FAQ thread here on College Confidential, </p>
<p>has NOT been updated to reflect the latest guidance by the federal Department of Education, which will be mandatory by the 2009-2010 application year. For the moment, the form makes very clear that self-identifying with any ethnic group is OPTIONAL (which is indeed the law, and which will still be the law next year). </p>
<p>What other interesting changes do you see? What do you think about the overall Common Application form? </p>
<p>The Common Application site has a way to log in </p>
<p>to access an extensive list of FAQs about the Common Application (which, in my humble opinion, ought not require logging in to access, but the site designers are stupid like that).</p>
<p>wow, i really like the updated one for a few reasons, which as a whole clear up a lot of ambiguities and confusions:</p>
<p>the academic honor section is a lot clearer (ours was just a text field) so that the significance of the honor and the grade level are both easily seen</p>
<p>i love the new extracurriculars section cause it distinguishes between summer activities and term-time activities...i was super confused about how to make the difference when i was filling that out</p>
<p>finally this is subtle, but very important...the "top few in my career" has a parenthetical explanation that it refers to the top 1%...that clears up a LOT of confusion and makes it more uniform for recommenders throughout the contry. because people used to think that "top few" meant top 0.00001%, while others read it like it is now: top 1%</p>
<p>It's just really annoying that the academic honors section now limits you to 5 awards only. What about the people who have many local, regional, and state awards, and nothing particularly special who are applying to schools where supplemental material is not allowed?</p>
<p>I have no clue, and some schools specifically ask you not to submit extra materials..
Want to estimate how many characters/words the extracurricular sections can hold?</p>
<p>calculus09: No if it's based on the title of the word doc (or whatever). But, you can if you want. Just make it something good. :] It's going to be shown as a PDF if you do the Common App online..so you really don't need one. Yeah.</p>
<p>ep1th3t: In generally, you type out the additional information section. There's a character limit on it. I forget what it was for 2007-2008. Or, you can attach an additional document (or as I did, a resume.) It's to be viewed via PDF if on the computer or just hard copy if they print out the PDF file. Hint, if you use a word document instead of typing it in, you can fit more stuff/characters than if you manually type it. They don't count characters if it's a document you're attaching..</p>
<p>Also, you don't need to put AP scores down. I don't recall them asking AP scores last year actually. But, it's self-reported. You can choose to if you want. (If you got good scores, put them..it looks good!) Not everyone takes APs, so ofcourse, they can't require putting down APs.</p>
<p>Tip: If you got awards and other achievements that can't fit anywhere else that you feel need to be listed, create a resume and attach it. It reflects well on you and you can put all that information in. :] Just make sure it's properly done (ask someone who's knowledgeable whether it's a friend, teacher or relative!).</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Do you fill out the athletic supplement if you played varsity sports in high school or only if you want to be recruited?</p></li>
<li><p>Since they only want the 5 most significant awards and honors, which is probably better, would national merit definitely be something to include? And we definitely should not relist anything in the ECs section right?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>^^Classof09</p>
<p>I think commonapp schools asked them to limit the sections so that people only add significant information that actually makes a difference to the application. So you would include your 5 most important awards and however many best AP scores</p>
<p>You can do it if you played varsity in HS. I did. :] You did these sports, why not use them for college apps?</p>
<p>National Merit is nice. But make sure the awards you list are ones that would help your application the most. If you're applying somewhere where National Merit is almost expected, save that for another place. </p>
<p>You can relist things in the ECs section. Aka if you are in a club that you have a leadership role in. And, you won a prestigious award for it. It makes it seem in context. Just don't regurgitate everything.</p>
<p>suppose if you are an international student, and you play ping pong and have won several national awards. Is there any section which you can indicate your interest to represent the college in ping pong? I know schools like mit and princeton or even maryland are gd at ping pong ><</p>
<p>I'm sure that's correct. And I'm sure that's the reason why awards like a high school's book award from some college alumni association might not be mentioned at all, as long as the same student had other, more significant awards. Try to develop a sense of what awards and accomplishments are most impressive NATIONALLY or even INTERNATIONALLY, and give those aspects of your application more prominence than the local stuff. I can even imagine a situation in which an applicant wouldn't particularly mention being a National Merit semifinalist, if the applicant had enough other impressive awards and if enough of the related facts appear in other parts of the application form (as an SAT score surely would).</p>