August 1st: The Common App is Live—Here’s How to be Prepared
Jack Beecher here
August 1st is a huge day in college admissions—maybe the biggest—because it’s the day the Common App opens for juniors.
All the time spent perfecting activities, rough drafting essays, and earning good grades can now finally be transformed into the application you will actually send to colleges. This is exciting, but along with the excitement comes the overwhelming feeling that many families feel when it comes time to start applications. So I figured in this super short blog, I’d share a couple key strategies to help you get started with the Common App come August 1st.
Start Early
The Common App opens on the 1st but guess what: many people won’t start on it until the days and weeks before their applications are due. By avoiding this common trap, and starting early, you have a huge advantage in admissions; make sure to use it. Even if it’s just filling in the basic information, do it as soon as possible.
Be Mindful of Character/Word Limits
Everything on the Common App—activities, essays, honors—involve a max number of words you can use. As it’s commonly known, that limit is 650 for the personal statement. Although this limit may seem confining, it’s not. Use it to your advantage. Every other student is grappling with the same problem of squeezing in a description of their activities in 150 characters. Instead of suffering that agony, however, be mindful of the limit beforehand, and devote your mental energy to being as concise as possible. College admissions officers love it.
The Honors Section is Broader Than You Think
our school doesn’t give out academic honors until the end of senior year; I didn’t have any. However, I learned that you could put in any type of honor related to your activities and that was a huge relief. For instance, one of my honors was “Iowa High School State Championship Winning Golf Team.” Get creative. Show yourself off!
Although I could easily rattle off tons of more tips related to different sections, I figured to just leave it at 3 quick ones for now. Hopefully, by using those tips to your advantage, you realize the Common App is manageable and does not need to seem daunting. Just get started, stack on small win after small win, and pretty soon, you’ll be submitting completed applications to the colleges of your dreams.
If you have any questions about the Common App I didn’t reference in this blog, feel free to join and post them in our College Confidence Community. Or, if you would like, schedule a free 45-minute call with Jack Delehey to hash out your specific college admission hurdles, whether that's related to the Common App or something else.
Good luck,Jack
