I looked but couldn’t find much info about what the heck these are, just people talking in depth about them. I would like to know what these two are, and if I should worry about them. I am a rising senior, and I want to go to the best college I can get into, my SAT is 2150 and gpa is 3.7, and I took 2 sat subject tests. Tell me the significance of college essays and the common application, I am worried they are something I should be worried about.
-Kyle
The Common App is used by more than 500 colleges and universities.Check to see if the schools you are interested in use the common application. For Fall 2016 admission cycle, the common app opens up on August 1st. It can be accessed here: https://www.commonapp.org/Login You need to set up a free account to access it in order to fill out the application(s) to the colleges you are interested in applying to.
You use the Common Application for first-year admission or transfer admission. The good part about this is that both versions allow the application to be filled out just once online and submitted to all schools that the student wants to apply to with the same information going to each. No more filling out multiple applications like back in the day when I was in school! Once the application is submitted to a college online, it cannot be changed for that college; the student must contact the college directly if they wish to correct an error or provide more information. Also, you can access the individual school’s supplemental materials through the common app as well, as most will have an additional essay that needs to be written.
The Common Application also allows the student to submit and track other components of their application such as supplements, payments, and school forms. Your GC should know about this process, and at my daughter’s school, it was all handled through Naviance.
The common app has an essay that you upload as well. There are generally 5 prompts to choose from and a 650 word limit. You can google to find out what the prompts are for the upcoming admissions cycle, but I believe that haven’t changed much from this past cycle. Let your true and unique voice come through in the essay. Don’t write something that you think the adcoms want to see. Be yourself and pay attention to grammar, punctuation etc.
Without over generalizing, I would say, yes, the essays are an important part of your college application. Pay particular attention to the college’s supplemental essay, as many selective and highly selective schools pay close attention to these to assess your “fit” for their particular school and/or program of study.
Thanks, I will email my guidance counselor and see if she can help me through the process.