Hello,
My son is junior now, but he would like to apply in early action. I was wondering if he will submit one common application, it would be for every colleges he will apply or he will need to submit common application for each college separately. I would really appreciate any reply. Thanks.
one app, some colleges will require additional writings though.
About 600 colleges in the US accept the common app. That makes it easy if every college he wants to apply to will accept the common app. But many colleges do not accept the common app, instead requiring the student use a different application. The only way you will know how many applications he has to submit, is to check with each school. The school’s website will say whether they take the common app or not (look for “admissions” or “application” on the website). If you can’t find it on the website, call the school Admissions office and ask if they take the common app, and where on their website to find instructions and deadlines for applying for that school.
For schools that use the common app you will fill out common sections (things such as basic demographics, stats such as test scores and activities, and one common essay) and then you will fill out any supplemental information for the specific schools he is applying to (sometimes short answer questions, sometimes additional essays, sometimes nothing at all!). You’ll know what to fill out because the first thing you will do is select that schools he wants to apply to, then the needed supplements will be available for those schools. You’ll also choose whether he wishes to apply early action, early decision or regular decisions so the appropriate deadlines will be displayed.
As you finish each application you will submit for that specific school.
So the answer to your questions is yes (there is common stuff found on the common app) and no (there are school specific stuff and you can submit at different times to different schools).
Here’s a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdBpfrjpZt0