The Common App. The three words that make every senior’s heart race this time of year, and maybe even compel them to run out of the room. We all know that Nov. 1 is approaching, but that doesn’t mean you need to stress. Although it can seem daunting at first glance, the Common App really isn’t the beast it wants you to think it is. Just take it one green check mark at a time, and if you know the tricks that colleges want to see, you’ll see those acceptance emails rolling in in no time.
Testing & Education
Once you’ve completed the Profile and Family sections of the application (congratulations!), this is where it can start to get technical. If you’ve taken classes for dual credit, the “Colleges & Universities” tab is the spot for you, as well as if you’ve done any kind of program at a university for college credit. In addition to filling this out on the website, find out from those schools how you can acquire a transcript, so that once you’re accepted somewhere, they can give you the credit you earned somewhere else. The “Grades” tab is where we get school-specific. Make sure you find out your class size, and your GPA (consult your unofficial transcript).
If you don’t have our school stats memorized…
- Class size is ~340 (current seniors)
- We do NOT have class ranking
- Our GPA is on a weighted 4.0 scale
- Grading scale is A-F
- Schedule is based on semesters
- EACH semester of a course is 0.5 credits
Don’t stress about your “Current or Most Recent Year Courses.” If your second semester schedule isn’t yet complete, it’s okay. When your transcript gets sent to your schools of choice (make sure you requested it in Naviance!), they’ll be able to see everything eventually, even if it’s not finalized at the time of submitting your applications. Lastly, time to brag about yourself: In the “Honors” tab, feel free to add any and all honors societies, awards, or other honors you have received over the last four years. Make sure schools know how awesome and accomplished you are!
Going into the Testing section, this is where debates begin. As you’re probably aware, many colleges have decided to go test-optional following COVID, so the decision of whether or not to send your ACT and/or SAT scores can be a tough one. There are three groups I think people fall into in this situation, so here’s my advice:
- You’re not confident in your scores: Don’t send them! There’s no need, and the other parts of your application, whether it’s your essay, your GPA, your activities, you name it, will speak to how great you are.
- You’re feeling iffy: Check the school’s middle 50 percent score for whichever test you’re wanting to send. If your score is at or above that number, send it! You’re what they’re looking for.
- You’re totally confident, but not sure which test to send: Look up an “ACT/SAT comparison chart.” Although these probably aren’t 100% accurate, it’ll give you a good idea of which score is comparably better. (send that one, or both if they’re very similar!)
Activities
Time to take it outside the classroom. The Activities section is where you get to showcase all the things you’re great at, passionate about, and have devoted a lot of time to over the last four years. This includes anything from school or club sports, community service, or playing an instrument, to an internship, helping an elderly family member, or a paid job.
Seriously, colleges want to see it all. The two words I’ve been directed to are “breadth” and “depth.” Your admissions counselor wants to see a wide variety of activities to show that you’ve explored many different interests across different platforms, and they want to see that you’ve performed well, climbing up the ranks of each thing you do. Of course, you’re not going to be the captain or president of every club you join, or maybe not even one; they just want to know that you’re dedicated.
A common misconception when filling out this section is merely writing a cut-and-dry description of your activity. The trick here is to give it some fluff. Show your admissions reader that you made a difference in your community, or that you discovered your passion. For example, instead of writing, “Babysat my neighbors every weekend,” try something like, “Forged a meaningful connection with a family through babysitting, which led me to look into a future career in childcare.”
These 150 characters should speak to your values, goals, and passions, rather than a surface-level description of what you do after school every day.
The Essay
Here we go. The biggie. Possibly the most dreaded 650 words in your high school career, and likely the most talked about one, too, especially in the last six months. Probably the most difficult hump to get over when writing your Common App essay is what to even write about. Getting that first sentence down on a page, and then figuring out where to go from there.
A great place to start is thinking of your values. Who are you? Maybe even ask the question, “if you could describe yourself in three words, what would they be?” Once you can articulate the fundamental attitudes and beliefs that are important in the way you live, think of how you carry them out in your everyday life: with friends and family, in school, and within yourself and how you make decisions. Try to find tangible examples, maybe even a story you could tell, that encompasses these values.
Surprise, surprise, that story you just thought of is now going to be known as “Idea Number One.” It is your “What.” The indelible moment that somehow shaped you as a person. And come up with several, because three days from now, you’re probably going to hate the first thing you came up with (at least I did).
After you’ve found your “Whats,” your next step is the “So What.” So you traveled to Israel last summer and learned a lot about your religion and culture. So what? Why is that a core memory for you? How does it speak to your personal values?
The answers to these questions bring me to the last section: the “Now What.” What does this event or memory or belief mean for your future? Think of how it will impact you as a college student, how you will change your mindset going forward, if it influenced your career goals, etc.
The key thing to keep in mind is that your admissions counselor wants to see who you are now, as well as who you will be on their campus. They don’t care about your first soccer game in third grade. I’m sure it was awesome, but if it doesn’t have any impact on you now or going forward, it’s not what they need to know about you.
Lastly, please, just be yourself. This is not, I repeat, NOT, a five-paragraph essay. You do not need a thesis. This is you talking to whoever is reading your application. It should sound like it’s coming from your voice, and if nothing else, it’s something you think your application would be incomplete without saying.
