Could someone explain the CommonApp for me? And give some admission advice too?

<p>So, I just recently got into the whole college admission hurricane. I'll be applying for the fall session of 2011. I started researching colleges in the summer and, although not 100% sure about my college choices yet, I am certain quite a few of them will be amongst the members of CommonApp.
But, I don't really understand the CommonApp. Does it mean i don't need to pay for my admission papers? Does it mean I can use one form for those Universities who follow the CommonApp? I am a bit confused and am feeling a bit of despair, as this whole concept is much more complex than I had hoped for.
Help is much appreciated.</p>

<p>You can send the Common App to any college that is a member. In other words, you don’t have to write ten applications (if that’s your number) for ten different colleges, as long as they’re on the list, you can send the Common App to them (which is not tailored to a specific institution, hence the ‘common’ part). You still have to pay an application fee although this differs from college to college.</p>

<p>There are, however, colleges that require supplemental forms (which ARE customized). You send it along with your common app.</p>