Why don't Columbia, MIT, Swarthmore, USC take the Common App?

Applying to College Common and Coalition Application
1

<p>I'm wondering why just about every Top 40 school except these I list takes the Common App, but these don't? Or am I wrong in visiting the Common App website... I could not find these schools on their list?</p>

<p>William, Amherst, Pomona, Wesleyan, but not Swarthmore... any reason?
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, but not Columbia... any reason?
Caltech, Harvey Mudd, but not MIT... any reason?</p>

<p>Just thought it odd, and wondering if there were a story behind that.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Swarthmore does.</p>

<p>I expect these schools will come on board some day. Chicago and Brown just switched over this year. I suspect they think maintaining independence guards their uniqueness, but it could just be that they just haven't budgeted funds to make a conversion.</p>

3

<p>right you are Descartesz, I see I missed Swarthmore on the list of members.</p>

4

<p>I recently went to an MIT info session and the guy said that the reason MIT does not use the Common App is because "MIT is not common - it's special". Whatever that means...</p>

5

<p>I wonder if these schools are trying to dissuade speculative admission by keeping their apps separate. That is, I wonder if they believe only people who really want to come will take the time to fill-out a completely separate form, as opposed to simply adding their schools on the Common App with a "what-the-heck" attitude.</p>

6

<p>It cuts both ways... not taking the common app might discourage a person who has that college on the MAYBE list. This reduces the number of applications to a school, and causes their %accepted to go up vs. having more applicants.</p>

7

<p>But isn’t the current thrust in college admissions to get more people to apply? Unless MIT really is different…</p>

8

<p>Columbia, MIT, USC, and Georgetown are the four remaining high-profile, private institutions that haven’t yet joined. Let them know this is a problem for you if it is - you’re a much more powerful advocate for change than we are!</p>

9

<p>USC better not join the common app.
Its sad to see top schools using the common app. That way less people apply and only apply to those they truly want to be at. Too many people apply to schools they do not have much interest in and take a spot away from someone else who really does.</p>

10

<p>This seems to be a pretty old thread.
In case anyone reading this thread doesn’t know yet, Columbia will be switching to the Common App starting next year.</p>

11

<p>Yep, Columbia is on Board for next year, as is Michigan, UConn, and DePaul.</p>

<p>USC, MIT, and Georgetown still won’t.</p>

12

<p>"Columbia only accepts The Common Application with the required Columbia Supplement for first-year and transfer admissions. "</p>

<p>link : [Applications</a> & Admission Process | Columbia University Office of Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/applications]Applications”>http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/applications)</p>

13

<p>USC is seriously considering it for next year though, hopefully itl happen</p>

14

<p>my counselor said usc is going to be on the common app next year (darn it!), but if the common app tech support guy said it’s not… then i guess not. oh well. i’m never going to apply for undergraduate schools again…</p>

15

<p>My comment was made one year ago - see the datestamp -</p>