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The Common Application is an undergraduate college application for students. The Common App is widely known and used among 900 member colleges in the United States and 20 other countries, including Canada, Japan, and many European countries.
The purpose of the Common App is to make it easier for students to apply to multiple colleges. Students still have to pay application fees for each college they apply to; however, the Common App conveniently allows them to submit to multiple institutions at once.
Here in our guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about the Common App, including how to use it, fill it in, and submit it. We’ll also talk about the difference between the Common App and the Coalition App, another application widely accepted by colleges and universities.
The primary purpose of the Common App is to save applicants time while they apply for college. The Common App streamlines the entire process of applying to college.
When you use the Common App, you can fill out one application and send it to all the schools you want to attend. However, it’s important to understand that you may need to fill out supplemental material for each school before submitting your Common App. Many schools require supplemental essays, in addition to the Common App’s required essays.
The Coalition App is another widely accepted application that you can use to apply for colleges. While both applications are accepted at hundreds of schools worldwide, the Common App is accepted by more institutions than the Coalition App.
About 150 member schools accept the Coalition App compared to the more than 950 schools that accept the Common App. However, one feature that the Common App doesn’t have is a fee waiver built right into the application. If you use the Coalition App, you’ll be able to find out right away if you are eligible for a fee waiver.
The timelines for both applications are the same and depend on the requirements for each school you apply to.
The Coalition App has five essay prompts, where the Common App has seven. (All seven Common App essay prompts are listed below, along with a few examples.)
Here are the five Coalition App essay prompts.
1. “Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it."
2. "Describe a time when you made a meaningful contribution to others in which the greater good was your focus. Discuss the challenges and rewards of making your contribution."
3. "Has there been a time when you’ve had a long-cherished or accepted belief challenged? How did you respond? How did the challenge affect your beliefs?"
4. "What is the hardest part of being a student now? What’s the best part? What advice would you give a younger sibling or friend (assuming they would listen to you)?"
5. "Submit an essay on a topic of your choice.”
Over 950 colleges and universities across the world accept the Common App, including colleges from all 50 states, several countries in Europe, as well as Canada, Japan, China, and more.
Of the top 25 national universities in the United States, these are the ones that accept the Common App. These schools are listed in the order that they appear on the 2021 list of Best National Universities as ranked by U.S. News.
Some schools in the top 25 that are notably absent from the list of those that accept the Common App are MIT, Georgetown University, UC Berkeley, and UCLA
The Common App website has a search tool that you can use to look up whether or not your target schools accept the application. If you do not already have target schools picked out yet, you can also use this search tool to narrow down schools. There are filters for location, school size, school type, and more.
The Common App is updated every year, and it always goes live on August 1st. If you start filling in your Common App on or around August 1st, you will have plenty of time to finish by your deadline, even if you choose early decision or early action.
For individual application deadlines, it’s important to look at the requirements provided by each school. The Common App will not give you that information.
For reference, most early decision and early action applications need to be submitted by November, while regular decision application deadlines are in January.
Be sure to look up this information well before you start applying so you’ll have enough time to fill in your application and any supplemental materials required by your target schools before the deadlines.
You should start applying to colleges during the summer before your senior year of high school. By this time, you should have narrowed down your target schools and picked the ones to apply to that you can see yourself attending.
Here is a rough outline of how and when you should start applying to colleges during your senior year, as suggested by the College Board.
Note: Submitting your application in December doesn’t necessarily increase your chances of acceptance, but you do get an earlier application review by the admissions committee.
Give yourself plenty of time to complete the application. Applying to college is not something you should rush through. It’s essential that you are fully prepared as you sit down to fill in your Common App application.
If you feel unprepared or need assistance applying for college, an admissions consultant can help you get into your dream school by supporting you through the process.
The Common App website guides you through the process of filling in your application. Follow these steps below, and you’re sure to feel confident by the time you get to the end.
Gathering the necessary materials takes time because you need to have several pieces of documentation, including your high school transcript, your SAT or ACT scores, and a list of all your extracurricular activities, work history, and family responsibilities.
Most prospective students fill in the Common App online, which requires you to create an account. You will choose between two options: first-year student or transfer student.
Once you create an account, you can add the schools where you want to apply to your list. If you haven’t already chosen your schools, you can use the Common App’s explore tool to find schools that fit your goals and personal preferences.
Using this tool, you can filter by region, size, program offerings, financial aid options, and other criteria to find the best schools for you.
You’ll need help from your teachers, coaches, bosses, counselors, and others to write evaluations for you. Start reaching out to them and make your requests.
Once you have secured your recommenders and evaluators, you can send them an invitation through your portal on the Common App website.
At this point, you’ll also need to fill out the FERPA waiver, which waives your right to look at the letters of recommendation that are given to you for your Common App application.
Each school has its own set of requirements when it comes to recommendations. For instance, some schools only require one teacher evaluation, whereas others require two. Some schools require a mid-year report, and others do not.
Refer to the Common App requirements grid to find out what your target schools require for recommendations and evaluations.
The Common App only requires one essay. (Take a look at our essay examples below.) However, the schools you apply to may have supplemental materials that are required with your application.
For example, if you apply to Harvard, the Harvard supplemental essay is an optional essay that you can write if you apply to Harvard using the Common App.
Topics for the Harvard supplemental essays include:
The purpose of a supplemental essay is to help the admissions committee better understand who you are and to humanize your application by sharing additional information, goals, and anecdotes that helped shape who you are today.
Once you feel confident in your essays and you are 100% sure you have compiled everything that is required of you by your target schools, you can hit the submit button.
Each year, the Common App has seven new essay prompts for incoming freshman and transfer students to use in their applications. You should choose a prompt that has meaning to you. There is no limit on the word count, but you should aim to write between 450 and 600 words.
Here are the seven essay prompts for the 2021-2022 Common Application.
1. “Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story."
2. "The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?"
3. "Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?"
4. "Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?"
5. "Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
6. "Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?"
7. "Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.”
Read through all of the prompts before choosing one. And be sure to use our tips below when you start writing.
You may be wondering which essay prompt would best showcase your individuality and highlight your candidacy. Here are some tips that will help you choose and write your essay.
If you can come up with a lot of content for one essay prompt, but you lack content for another essay prompt, go with the one you have more content to write.
Admissions committees are not looking to scrutinize you for which essay prompt you picked, but rather they want to learn more about you through your answer.
Pick two or three prompts that you feel confident about answering. You should have a few ideas formed for each prompt. They don’t have to be fully formed, but you should have an idea of how you would answer in 650 words.
Next, start brainstorming. The best way to do this is to write out (or type out) all your ideas for each prompt you are considering. Write down everything you can think of for each prompt.
Now that you have finished brainstorming, pick the prompt that you like best. Usually, this is the prompt you were able to brainstorm the most ideas for a response.
Use your brainstorming to guide you through your first draft. And remember: your first draft does not have to be perfect! You’re just structuring your essay and writing as much content as possible.
Give yourself time to finish the essay all the way through before going back and making edits. Look for grammar mistakes, areas where you could add clarification, and other general edits.
Sometimes when we write something it’s difficult to see it objectively. Let a friend or family member read it and offer their perspective. But don’t be afraid to challenge their suggestions or ask that they provide more clarification. Ultimately, this is your college application and you have the final say on everything.
You should also consider working with a professional college admissions consultant to ramp up your essay in ways that a family member or friend may not be able to do.
A professional can offer objective advice that will only help you in getting accepted into the schools of your choice.
Here are a few example essays that use the prompts listed above.
Prompt: The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
This is an excerpt from a Common App essay submitted to multiple schools.
“When I was a freshman in high school, I didn’t care about school or my education. I couldn’t see a future where it mattered whether I knew how to say ‘how are you’ in Spanish or how to use the Pythagorean theorem.
Because I couldn’t see the point of these classes, I found myself disconnected from the high school experience as a whole, which resulted in low grades. My parents expressed their disappointment in me, but I still couldn’t bring myself to care; I was feeling disconnected from my family, too.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was depressed. I stopped spending time with my friends and stopped enjoying the things I used to enjoy. I was feeling hopeless.
How could I get through three and a half more years of high school if I couldn’t even get through a semester? I couldn’t stand the thought of feeling this way for so long – at least it felt so long at the time.
After a few failed tests, one of my teachers approached me after class one day. She said she also noticed a difference in my demeanor in the last few weeks and asked if I was okay.
At that moment, I realized that no one had asked me that in a long time. I didn’t feel okay, so I told her that. She asked me what was wrong, and I told her that I was feeling disconnected from school and classes and just about everything at that point.
My teacher suggested I visit my guidance counselor. So the next day, during study hall, I got a pass to visit with my guidance counselor and told her I was feeling disconnected from classes and school.
She asked me what my interests were and suggested that I take an elective like art or music or a vocational tech class like culinary arts or computer coding.
I told her that I wasn’t sure what I was interested in at this point and she told me to take a couple of classes to see what I like. At her persistence, I signed up for art and computer coding.
It turns out art was not my thing. But it also turns out that computer coding is my thing, and I am not sure I would have realized that had I not gone to see my guidance counselor at my teacher’s recommendation.
After taking computer coding and other similar classes, I had something to look forward to during school. So even when I still dreaded taking Spanish and Geometry, I knew I could look forward to an enjoyable class later in the day.
Having something to look forward to really helped me raise my grades because I started caring about my future and the possibility of applying for college to study computer science.
The best thing that I took away from this experience is that I can’t always control what happens to me, especially as a minor, but I can control how I handle things. In full transparency: there were still bad days and bad grades, but by taking action and adding a couple of classes into my schedule that I felt passionate about, I started feeling connected to school again. From there, my overall experience with school – and life in general – improved 100%.”
Why this is a good essay:
In this essay, the student answers the prompt by addressing their low grades, how the experience affected them, and how they got back on track to getting better grades.
This is also a good essay because the admissions committee will see the low grades from freshman year and the student has preemptively explained them.
Prompt: Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
This is an excerpt from a Common App essay written for Tufts University.
“On one hot night in a dark room at the heart of Boston, I became friends with 19,580 people in one single moment. We had all journeyed to the TD Garden from wherever we were in our lives to see Tom Petty perform. I knew his music because my mother had shared it with me. It meant something to her and it meant something to me.
His music meant something different to every person in that room and all those meanings, all infinite number of them, wrapped around the music notes and existed in harmony on that July night. I had to close my eyes.
It was as if I could hear the heartbeats of every person in that room, pulsing along with the rhythm of the music. By sharing his music, Tom Petty gave me a striking awareness of 19,580 people that live and feel alongside each other. Tom Petty will live as long as people feel.
I looked into the smiles of the crowd, the dancing arms and carefree yes, and realized we were all feeling something of our own. But we were feeling it all together.
And so I have become a curator of feeling. I am always listening, collecting the art of others. I have stared at paintings until they stared back at me. I cry while I watch almost every film, sometimes just because the characters are nice to each other.
I'm as moved by the narrative of my old American Girl Doll books as I am by Dickens. It's all swirls of feelings, of lessons from others that mirror those you need to learn yourself. Art embodies empathy and empathy has become too easy to lose touch with. Art is the same world seen from a different heart. I look at characters or creators and think, "How did you become the way you are?" I can look at others and think the same thing. And I have the chance to ask them.
Tom Petty did not write "Breakdown" just for me. Hard Promises comforts more than just me. I cannot live life from just my own perspective. Art exists in everyone. I embrace my hour-long commute to school as a chance to start conversations through the life that flows from my speakers, using old tunes to understand the world through my neighbors as we talk of our favorite colors or the abstract nature of time. My dad doesn't seem so distant when we talk about our mutual love for The Band. This is how our moments are made. This is how we find the music that surrounds all of us, all in each other.”
Why this is a good essay:
This essay answers the prompt perfectly. The student talks about an event that sparked a new understanding and appreciation of art. It also gives admissions committees some insight into who this student is as a person and how they learn. This is especially good for a student who plans on studying art or music while attending college. When you write your essay, try to relate it to your major if you already know what you’ll be studying.
Prompt: The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
This is an excerpt from a Common App essay written for Johns Hopkins University.
“I could still hear her words, the words my teacher said as she handed me the packet, “This is a challenge. But I think you’re up for it.” I held the math packet in my hand. On the cover, the title ‘Mission Possible!’ screamed at me. I could feel my fingers tingling, and the goosebumps rolling up my arms. I stared at the black italicized letters of the title as I walked home.
They seemed to stare back, alluding to the mysteries that lay underneath them. As soon as I got home, I ran to the top bunk where I slept, grabbed a pencil, and signed a mental contract with the packet: “I promise to prioritize you, put you above all else in my life, not rest, and not eat until all the problems that lay in your pages are solved.” I was a pretty dramatic 11-year-old.
My love for challenges and the tenacity with which I approach them was instilled in me through observing my family and through my own experiences. Ten years ago, my family and I packed our belongings, sold everything we had, and flew across the Atlantic to our new home in America.
During our first year in Minnesota, we were faced with the omnipresent challenge of money. My sister, rather than having the comfort of her crib, was forced to share a bed with my mom and I. My dad was forced to sleep on a makeshift bed my mom made for him every night, using cushions from a torn and scratchy old sofa. My mom was forced to wake up early and stay up late working, at home, and her minimum wage job. My parents never complained. To them, this was just another stage of life, another challenge to overcome.
I now reflect on this, and many other challenges my family and I have faced during our ten years in America. I realize that it is through observing how my parents never slowed down that I learned the value of perseverance, through watching my mom’s devotion to a single job that I learned the value of commitment, through my dad’s consistent job switches that I learned the value of ambition, and through observing my sisters willingness to live with less that I learned the value of sacrifice.
Through my own experiences, I learned I can apply these values and overcome any challenge that comes my way. My 11-year-old self figured this out after a grueling two months of working on the packet, finishing with all the questions answered.
It is because of these values and the way they were instilled in me that I have decided to pursue a career as a surgeon; I know it is through the guidance of these values and the people who first showed them to me that I will be able to achieve this goal.”
Why this is a good essay:
Talking about how you have overcome challenges in your life is an excellent indicator of how well you will handle the rigors of college. This student also talks about how they came to decide on the career path they will be pursuing once they start college. Your essay is a great opportunity in which to do that.
You can find the Common App application and many other resources at www.commonapp.org/.
The Common App opens in August every year, so you can start as early as the summer before your senior year if you wish! Regardless of whether or not you are applying early action, early decision, or regular decision, you can start your application in August to get familiar with what the application will ask of you and what materials you need to have.
If schools offer the option of the Common App, they don’t place preference over one application or the other. Some schools only offer the Common App.
You can submit your Common App to up to 20 colleges. But before you get too excited at that high number, remember that you have to submit an application fee to every school where you apply. Consider the cost of each application fee before you start submitting to 20 schools.
You can use the Common App for any school you apply to as long as they accept the Common App. Over 950 colleges and universities accept the Common App as an application for admittance, but several do not.
Use the Common App search tool to determine whether your target schools accept the Common App or not.
There are many tips for filling out the Common App. Here are the top three, as recommended by U.S. News.
The Common App is free to use, and almost half of member schools don't charge application fees for first-year students. If the schools you are applying to charge an application fee, you can submit a fee waiver request.
To find out if you are eligible based on the guidelines set forth by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, click here.
You should refer to the individual college websites regarding application deadlines.
Early action and early decision applicants usually need to submit their applications at some point in late October or early November. Regular decision applicants usually have a deadline in January, but sometimes in December.
It is extremely important to look at the deadlines ahead of time before you even begin your application. Write down the deadlines and be sure not to miss them. Admissions committees don’t accept late applications unless under the most extenuating circumstances.
Now you know everything you need to know about the Common App. We’ve covered everything from the timeline to how to fill it out, as well as the essay prompts. You are well on your way to starting the application process!
As you start the application process, make sure you have the correct deadlines for each of your target schools so that you get everything to the admissions committee on time. Start preparing to fill out your application as early as September of your senior year.
If you stick to this guide, you won’t be crunched for time, and you can move through the process with ease.
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