<p>Hi, just a question for any parent who has gone through this process already. </p>
<p>Like almost every other poster on this forum (besides the parents and occasional admissions officer, of course), I am a senior applying to very selective institutions. And I'm using the Common Application. </p>
<p>The Common Application doesn't allow any italics in the essay. My essay has italics not only for a reference to a particular work but also for added emphasis at certain parts. I know that most schools would prefer that I submit an application online so as to eliminate unnecessary entering of information by the admissions office. Also, I've heard that it's a lot easier for the admissions officers to read the application originally on the computer than scanned into the computer later. </p>
<p>Those two points taken into consideration, I'm pretty unsure of what to do. Submit online and run the risk of somebody not understanding what I mean where the italics might clarify? Or submit by paper and run the risk of annoyance and difficulty to read...</p>
<p>I'm not sure if what we did will work for you, but when we finished the common app and either looked at the screen or printed off a copy the font looked very small (and hard to read) to me. In addition, my son's essay started out with several lines of specially formatted text (centered) that could not be duplicated using the common app software. </p>
<p>We did the best we could with the common app software and submitted typed copies of the essays via snail mail with an explanation that the typed copy would be easier to read. If you have a few extra characters to spare you might put a short line at the beginning of the essay explaining that they are being submitted under seperate cover using fonts and/or punctuation not available online.</p>
<p>Also, is one supposed to use "quote" marks to signify italics if ITALICS are not available?</p>
<p>no -- there is absolutely no way to format. using quotes for a long work such as a movie or a book is considered incorect, so i don't think that's a good option. my other uses of italics are for emphasis... quotes wouldn't really do it. </p>
<p>so you sent the essays on paper and the rest of the app online?</p>
<p>I would then give the essay to the gc to along with the official transcript, school profile and gc rec and maybe event the teacher recs. Other than the act/sat scores everything on paper could be one envelope and mailed directly by your hs. You would order the official sat/act scores to be sent to where you want them to go.</p>
<p>I like NJRes's idea of sending a copy of the essay under separate cover, via snail mail. That also gives you the added opportunity to reiterate in your accompanying cover letter exactly why College XYZ is so high on your list. You might also include a detailed activity resume (I find the Common application really limiting in terms of being able to provide any details at all about EC's) Make sure to address it specifically to the admissions rep responsible for your geographic area and write your name and social security number at the top of each page. Good luck!</p>
<p>Remember there's that nifty blank "additional information" page that you can use to explain everything including ECs. D put asterixes where appropriate,then explained more fully on'further info' page.</p>
<p>Thanks for that tip SBmom. My daughter has been going crazy with the common app. because few of her EC's fit neatly in the common app's pre-ordained slots. It's also impossible to use a range of hours (i.e. 10-20 hours a week). I'll suggest to her that she just use the asterisk method to explain more fully. :)</p>
<p>You guys are great. I've been wondering how S should submit the explanation of his ECs on the online common app ! He hasn't actually started his apps yet, so we didn't know about this extra page.
I can't believe how early everyone is this year with their applications.</p>
<p>We used the Common App but did not submit online. S used Adobe Acrobat Professional to type in information. He printed out the filled-out forms and his essays (both for Common App and for Supplemental form) separately (after filling out "See separate sheet" on the space for essays); he then sent a copy of the Common App form, Supplemental form, resume, list of college courses, via snail mail. He used his cover letter to list what he was sending and what other materials would be coming separately from his school and the college where he took courses.</p>
<p>Re # hours for EC's. We didn't worry about ranges, we just averaged. Fine to put this kind of thing in the "Additional Info" pages, but if you don't want those pages crowded with too many details, you can certainly put 15 hours to represent a range from 10-20.</p>
<p>My daughter did virtually the same thing as Marite's son, although she steadfastly refused to use a cover letter.
For the ECs on the Common App, she just listed her ?3 major ones as briefly as possible, then did a little more explanation on the resume.</p>
<p>
[quote] We used the Common App but did not submit online.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Bold emphasis added by me. This kind of usage of "we" seems to annoy adcoms.</p>
<p>Times have certainly changed. </p>
<p>Decades ago, I typed my own college application on a cheap manual typewriter with inevitable corrections ineptly made with correction fluid. </p>
<p>It didn't occur to my parents that they were supposed to offer to proofread or advise or otherwise help in the application process. Their role was limited to filling out the financial aid forms (which I remember they found quite daunting--my mom said it was much worse than income taxes.)</p>
<p>Igrok - There was a CC thread on this a few months back. Suggestions were similar though. Generating hardcopy of the Common App solves a number of problems, not the least of which is what to do when the school GC insists on submitting the application package via snail mail (which was the case at D's HS). DD did not have access to Adobe Professional, but nicely made do with MS Word.</p>
<p>As some CC posters may remember, I asked for information on how to fill the Common App online and received feedback about Adobe Acrobat Professional. I then went off to buy it. So, despite the fact that S filled out his own app, I think the "we" is appropriate. :) I did offer suggestions also about printing out the essay on a separate sheet of paper after he reported formatting problems.</p>
<p>My son was very grateful to find that the local college library has Adobe Acrobat Professional on it's computers. We are out in a rural part of TN, but near a college town, so we were lucky. But it might make sense for some folks in cities or near academic centers to seek out libraries with the program installed: I think the program is pretty expensive and I can't think of other times we would need to use it as a family. Just a thought.</p>
<p>S1 did complete the Common App as yours did Marite, and then included the cover sheet, resume, and typed essays where necessary. Worked just fine.</p>
<p>DD did not have access to Adobe Professional, but nicely made do with MS Word.>></p>
<p>NewHope, could you explain how he did this? My daughter has tried to copy the adobe version into word and hasn't figured out how to do it. She asked about buying the Adobe Acrobat Professional, but if there's a cheaper and easier way to do this, she'd probably prefer that.</p>
<p>I may have answered my own question. Did a search of the boards and found this software that converts adobe to word -solidpdf.com
It's certainly a lot cheaper ($50) than Adobe Professional (cheapest I could find was $499). Anyone have any other suggestions?</p>
<p>carolyn - D completed the Common App online and printed out the result. Some pages looked fine while others were downright unappealing. (The latter were primarily essays and the activity matrix.) I suppose D could have tried to load the entire Common App into MS Word. Instead she "fixed" only the unappealing pages by copying their contents (i.e., CTL-C for PC, or Apple-C for Mac) into a MS-Word document and editing them there. Obviously this would not work for someone who needed to submit the Common App online. But since her HS required her to submit one hardcopy of the Common App for each college she was applying to, having a few pages printed from the Common App site and the rest printed from MS-Word worked out great. Oh, D was able to mimic perfectly in MS-Word the headers/footers/etc. from the discarded Common App pages, so the printed pages were indistinguishable from those done in an Adobe Professional-type software.</p>