Why You Should Use the Common Application

First-year and transfer students can use the common application to apply for many colleges. The common application process has existed for close to forty years, yet many high school students are not completely aware of the free service or how it can help manage your college applications.

The Common Application allows students to apply to a number of schools at one time. It works by taking all of your basic information, like grades, courses, and test scores, the kind of stuff every college asks for, and it stores all your information in one place. The common application not only keeps all your information in a safe and secure place once you have created an account, but it also:

• Let’s you search for colleges that use the common application
• Keeps track of your college applications and lets you know if you still need to submit information.
• Let’s you know of college application deadlines and the cost of each college application.
• Has an option for you to upload your letters of reference so they’re stored in one easy to find location.
• Allows you to include your high school counselor on your account so they can see your progress and include any supplemental material such as transcripts, and reference letters.

You don’t have to worry about filling out the same college applications over and over again because the common application stores all of your academic information and essay statements in one place.

Just under 500 colleges currently use the common application, so you can’t use it for every college just yet, but you should check out which schools use the common application. If more than one of the schools you apply to are on the list, then it is worth using the common application to save you time.

If you have any questions or topics you would like for us to discuss, please comment below!