The Common Application (informally known as the Common App) is an undergraduate college admission application that applicants may use to apply to any of 731 member colleges and universities in 48 states and the District of Columbia, as well as in Canada, China, and many European countries. Member colleges and universities that accept the Common App are made up of over 100 public universities, nine Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and over 250 institutions that do not require an application fee. It is managed by the staff of a not-for-profit membership association (The Common Application, Inc.) and governed by a 13-member volunteer Board of Directors drawn from the ranks of college admission deans and secondary school college guidance counselors. Its mission is to promote access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process, which includes subjective factors gleaned from essays and recommendations alongside more objective criteria such as class rank and standardized testing.
Member institutions may also require unique college-specific questions, and ask additional questions, with only two restrictions: 1) college-specific questions may not ask questions already asked on the Common Application (except identifying information like name, address, date of birth, etc.), and 2) college-specific questions may not ask questions that violate the NACAC Statement of Principles and Good Practice (such as "please rank order your college choices.").
Digital application system
There is a Common Application for first-year admission and a Common Application for transfer admission. Both versions allow the application to be filled out once online and submitted to all schools with the same information going to each. Once the application is submitted to a college online, it cannot be changed for that college; the student must contact the college directly if he or she wishes to correct an error or provide more information. The Common Application also allows the student to submit and track other components of his or her application such as supplements, payments, and school forms. Students may also roll over their account information within the Common App tab of the dashboard from year to year, using the same user name and password.
Membership
Of the Common Application's nearly 700 members, about one-third are "exclusive users" that use the Common Application as their only admissions application online or in print (listed here). If the member has a separate proprietary application, they are required to give equal consideration to applicants using either form as a condition of membership.
"Fair Common Application"
As a protest regarding the Common Application's lack of identification for undocumented immigrants, the immigrant rights group Students for Undocumented Dreams and Decision Equity Now launched the "Fair Common Application", which would fix what they believe is a "separate and unequal admissions process". No colleges accept the alternative application, and representatives from the Common Application threatened legal action, alleging copyright infringement, causing the protest site to be taken down.
Controversy
From August to October 2013, the Common App drew criticism due to multiple issues with their website. On August 1, 2013, The Common Application launched its new CA4 system. Counselors and students reported portions of essays being deleted, formatting issues, instructor recommendation problems, payments being sent out multiple times, and more. This has led some to question college institutions' dependence on the Common Application. By December, the "glitches" with the Common App appeared to have been resolved, with one admissions director describing the situation as "basically ‘business as usual.’"
Competition
The Universal College Application was started in 2007 and as of March 2015 has 46 participating institutions.
A selective consortium of colleges and universities known as the Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success announced in September 2015 a competing application which features online "lockers" for storage of portfolio items starting in grade 9.
See also
- College admissions in the United States
- Transfer admissions in the United States
- Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), UK
References
External links
- Official website