<p>Hi all,
I need help figuring out how to send a different common app. to different schools. I want to do a different essay question for two different schools. I know I can print out and type and then send a hard copy but is there any way to do this on the computer instead of with a typewriter? I think I read somewhere that you can creat a pdf file of the common app, type in answers and then print out? I'd appreciate any help. Thanks!</p>
<p>May I ask why you want to do this?</p>
<p>^ Yeah, seriously. The whole point of the common app is that it is universal enough to allow you to encompass all your applications into one.</p>
<p>I want to write a "quirky " essay for a “quirky” school that I don’t think is appropriate for the “regular” schools. It’s something that I want to do and I know others have done. Just trying to figure out the techie part of it</p>
<p>have you checked to see if the “quirky” school requires a supplemental essay[ a la U of Chicago?]If so, that is where you can write your quirky essay.</p>
<p>Respectfully, I would suggest that you decide whether you are “quirky” or “regular” and then write the one essay that best expresses who you are. It sounds like you’re saying that you want to tailor your essay to the school, and that’s a great way to end up at the wrong school.</p>
<p>^^ uh, respectfully mantori,
The OP’s strategy is not at all off base. There ARE schools that are looking for students who “think differently” and it might very well be a mistake to try to craft a “one size fits all” essay for all the colleges she is applying to. When my son applied to U of C [ one of the colleges that has a history of looking for bright, quirky students] 4 years ago, he revelled in the fact that their application let him show a completely different, wacky side of his personality, as opposed to what the Dartmouth application asked for. He was accepted at both colleges, with very different essays. So as long as the OP has an opportunity to write different supplemental essays, she should go for it,IMHO. But you CAN’T open up 2 different common applications for one student.</p>
<p>I didn’t say one couldn’t be admitted to two schools with two different essays; surely many have done so. I’m just cautioning the OP against trying to be two different people for different schools, lest she end up at a school that values conformity when she may in fact be a non-conformist. I think that’s fairly sensible advice.</p>
<p>Perhaps the CommonApp has changed since my D used it four years ago, but back then you HAD to send a different app to your EA or ED school, or if you were applying to more than six(?) colleges (since there was only space to list six back then). No problem really, just send off the EA app, edit and send off a second version to different schools, then edit once more and send off the third version to remaining school. Is editing proscribed now?</p>
<p>Easily done. You simply produce a different version of the app, with whatever changes you’d like to include. You then decide which version goes to a given school.</p>
<p>D wrote an essay for her EA schools, didn’t really like it, came up with one she liked a lot better, and used it for her RD schools.</p>
<p>Ok, I just want to know if I can send different hard copies of the common app to different schools. I am not sending anything electronically at all. I wasn’t looking for advice on my strategy. It’s honestly not that deep. So,my question is again.:Can I get the common app into a different file on my computer so I can type it and print it out and send a hard copy? Or do I have to print it out and type it on a typewriter?</p>
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<p>No idea why you would want to do that.</p>
<p>But anyway, your problem is easily solved using “Print Preview,” since I don’t think the main common app form allows you to easily enter information directly (as some other common app forms do). On the “Signature” page of the common app after you’ve filled all of the information out, hit “Print Preview” to produce a filled-out version of your application. Once you print this, go back and swap out any essays you want, and then hit “Print Preview” again and print the application form. Repeat as much as necessary.</p>
<p>You will be doing yourself , and the college, NO favor by sending in a HARD copy of your application INSTEAD of sending it electronically. Thousands of paper documents [teacher rec’s, transcripts, etc] sent to admissions offices are misfiled or lost each year, causing much teeth knashing and last minute panic as seniors rush to have replacement docs sent in. If you submit your application and essay electronically it will be one less [ and very important] document that won’t get lost.</p>