<p>I'm mainly interested in the essays. I want to give myself a diverse chance and change up some of the essays a little, but I don't know if I will have the possibility of doing so online. Theoretically, I could do that if I submitted by paper right? But some schools like Stanford require online submission.. If there is anyone that knows the answer to this question or has a greater, more in-depth knowledge of how the online Common App submissions work (changing the CA between submissions of supplements), please let me know! Thanks</p>
<p>once you send the common app once, you can't make any changes to it, including the essay. i'm not sure what the "rules" are for paper submissions. check which colleges you're applying to allow paper. see where you are then.</p>
<p>why don't you send the online version to stanford and do paper for everything else?</p>
<p>Schools like Stanford also have a supplement, so there is plenty of chance for a more specific application.</p>
<p>I thought it was only the essay that cannot be changed after your first submission. It doesnt make sense to lock the rest. People may apply EA/ED and then things will change before they apply RD. And what about rolling admissions?</p>
<p>Does anyone know for sure? anyone hit that submit button yet?</p>
<p>My D used common app and submitted different essays to different colleges online. You can edit each time before you send it out to a particular college. Read the common app FAQs .</p>
<p>^^^^Right, my D did the same thing. She didn't want to use the same essay ten times, just in case there was an (unseen) problem with it. I'm not sure if common app has changed its rules since then.</p>
<p>I believe that the Common App site was redesigned between last year and this year, and the ability to edit the essays was eliminated.</p>
<p>Yes, it has definitely been eliminated, and someone from the CA confirmed that. It seems to be a policy change. </p>
<p>Ok, checked the site:
You must submit the Common App to each of your selected institutions. This can be done all at one time, or one at a time. After you have submitted your Common App, you may add additional institutions and submit your application to them, as well. Once you have submitted your Common App to any institution, your application will be locked and you will not be able to make any changes to it. </p>
<p>So, no changes, though I suppose you could create new accounts? sort of defeats the purpose.</p>
<p>Seems like a really silly policy change-why shouldn't you be able to tweak an essay to fit a college's profile?</p>
<p>ugh. i really am starting to hate this common app. it doesn't make anything easier at all.</p>
<p>This seems like a really bizzare policy change. Does anyone have a link to the site where this is explained? Does anyone have any idea why they would do this? A lot happens between the earliest ED deadlines and RD dealines.</p>
<p>curious14 - I cut and pasted the above. It was in the instruction part of the common app.</p>
<p>It just makes no sense at all. Suppose someone applies EA, and then decides to retake the SAT? they cannot change the score? suppose they get a job? win an academic honor? move?? </p>
<p>I know someone from CA was checking out these boards. Maybe they can comment?</p>
<p>It makes absolutely no sense for them to not allow adjustments, especially between EA and RD. For example. for my EA school, I only need to complete two SATII's but for some of my RD schools, I will need to complete 3. I need to enter in the one that I will take in December! This would also stop us from adding additional awards that we received between November and January. This is ridiculous!</p>
<p>people ought to write to common app and express your concerns. I am not concerned about locking the essay. The supplement is for the school specific info. OTOH, locking the entire app is just plain impractical.</p>
<p>I do think you can email them with changes, and they will tweak it. Of course, they may underestimate how much tweaking people may require. They could get bogged down. I bet this is the only year people will have to deal with this silly policy.</p>
<p>I wonder whether this policy will drive people to use the Universal College Application. Check this FAQ (in the "Submitting My Application" section):</p>
<p>"Can I send a different application to each college?</p>
<pre><code>"Yes. Once you submit your first application, you can log back into your application, copy and edit it, and submit it to a different college(s)."
</code></pre>
<p>REALLY? When did you read that?</p>
<p>When did I read about the Universal College App policy? Just before I posted about it.</p>
<p>The FAQ page is here: <a href="https://www.universalcollegeapp.com/index.cfm?ACT=Display&APP=APPONLINE&DSP=HELP&page=Faq#%5B/url%5D">https://www.universalcollegeapp.com/index.cfm?ACT=Display&APP=APPONLINE&DSP=HELP&page=Faq#</a>. Click on the "Submitting My Application" link to get to the question "Can I send a different application to each college?"</p>
<p>Note that the Universal College Application is new, and the list of colleges that are using it is much shorter than the list of colleges that use the Common App.</p>