For most American colleges, applications are due the first few weeks of January. And so, with those regular decision deadlines just two months away, you’ve got no time to waste: NOW is the time to answer all of your Common App questions and problem-solve any issues you might be having!
Fortunately, you’ve got an expert in your corner who’s been helping students turbocharge their applications for fifteen years now. What follows is a full list of the resources that my blog has provided on the topic of the Common App. Since I’m always adding new resources dedicated to helping you with your applications, this list of handy articles keeps growing.
So, here’s the NEW, updated list to help you with your Common App, wherever you are in your essay writing and application process!
Article Contents
How to use this post if you’ve turned in an application (and if you haven’t)
If you’ve already submitted an Early Decision I or Early Action app, you’ve already done a lot of the birds-eye thinking and written most of the text that will go into your regular decision applications. You’ve probably also crafted a Common App personal statement and a strong activities list. That gives you a big leg up on the applications to come!
If I’ve just described your situation, then all that remains to be done in terms of your RD apps is for you to write the supplemental essays required by your respective schools. (That’s not to say you should leave writing those additional essays ‘til the last minute! They do still impact your application and can still take a lot of time to write. That being said, feel free to give yourself a pat on the back before putting your nose to the grindstone again.) Here’s the section of this post’s resource library that’s going to be most relevant to YOU, early applier.
I’d also recommend reading back through your Common Application and making a few edits. After all, you should be able to view it with more objectivity, now that a bit of time has passed since you first drafted it.
If you have not yet hit submit on any applications, you’ve still got time to do so. Not, like, OODLES of time. But if you dial in right now, you’ll have adequate time to finish everything—in a way that presents an exciting portrait of who you are, what you care about, and what you can contribute to a prospective school. Every section of today’s post is for you: they each flesh out an important aspect of HOW you’re going to market yourself effectively.
2. Common App Basics
If you haven’t even opened the Common Application yet, here’s what you need to read right away in order to get a global sense of the different sections you’ll be filling out: my thorough explainer of the Common App. (If you’re REALLY short on time, here’s the abbreviated version!)
In addition, the Common App often changes from year to year—sometimes in small ways, sometimes in bigger ones. That was true this past year, and so I encourage you to check out my most recent update post. (I also made a video about this year’s updates, for my YouTube addicts.) It’s really important that you’re not working from an outdated understanding of the application when you start writing your essays and other bits and pieces!
3. Write an Excellent Personal Statement
This is the most substantial piece of work that goes into your application: a 650-word essay in which you most fully express who you are, what you believe in, and connect the dots of the rest of your college application. It’s no small feat, but you can do it! Here’s how:
First, peruse this year’s Common App essay prompts. (They haven’t changed for a few years now!)
Next, read this expert guide to how to find the perfect Common App essay topic. It’s worth noting: the prompts are highly varied (and prompt #7 is literally “Share an essay on any topic of your choice”!), so you can write about almost any topic. So pick an essay subject that will put your best foot forward—not one that just happens to align with one of the prompts.
If you’d like the advanced version of the above post, with lots of specific topic ideas to help inspire you (and a key list of topics to AVOID!), my Ace the Personal Statement Guide brings you all of that, and loads more, for $9.
Then, BEFORE you create a new Google Doc and start drafting, you should learn what an “Organizing Principle” is, and why your application needs one. The most elite applicants use their essay to tie together the various threads of their application and their CV and show the admissions reader who you REALLY are. That’s a heavy lift…
…BUT I can spot you through it. My post on how to find your Organizing Principle walks you through several exercises you can use to put on the page a coherent vision of yourself that makes for a standout Common App essay.
Many applicants hit Common App essay writer’s block at some point. Fortunately, there are ways to break through it. THEN, return to the previous step and determine your Organizing Principle! (If you prefer to watch your educational content, I’ve got a video version of that article, too!)
3. Tips for an Excellent Activities List
After your main essay, your Activities List is the second-most substantial part of your application. It needs to give your colleges of interest deep and thorough insight into who you are and what you’ll bring to their community.
I see way too many students waste the opportunities presented by this section (before I take out my expert editor’s pen and help them reshape it, that is)! This shouldn’t just be a half-baked word dump of everything you’ve done for the past four years. Instead, you need to prioritize and articulate every item on your list in a way that makes the absolute most of the 10 activity slots you’re given. My article on the subject tells you how to write an Activities List that will wow your admissions reader.
4. Write Supplemental Essays (and Possibly the “Challenges and Circumstances” Essay)
Even after you finish the personal essay and activities list, you may still have more writing to do, depending on your colleges of interest. If they so choose, each school can require supplemental (or “additional”) essays for THEIR particular application. These extra essays can add serious time and effort to your submission process, so definitely give yourself enough time before the due date to start them! (In the last third of November, that time is ASAP.)
That being said, the supplemental essay that most frequently comes up is some version of “Why us?” or “Why do you want to attend our college?” Here’s my beginner-friendly hack for brainstorming and writing the “why this college?” essay. (Video version here!) This method saves my clients a lot of time and worry….and it’ll do the same for you.
Relatedly, the “Additional Information” section of the Common App offers applicants the chance to discuss any significant impact that difficult material circumstances (like war, natural disasters, or the COVID pandemic) may have had upon your day-to-day life and education. This post will help you figure out whether it’s strategic for you, in particular, to write this optional essay—and how to write a strong version of the essay, if the answer is “yes.”
5. Things NOT to Do on Your Common App
Before hitting “submit” on your app, it’s worth taking a quick glance at this list of the 10 most common mistakes to avoid while applying to colleges. Yes, despite how nuts some of these “strategies” might seem, I am sorry to say that ALL of them are things that I’ve seen high schoolers try (before I walked them back from their oncoming slip-up, that is!).
Let’s make sure you’re not sabotaging your chances after all the hard work you’ve put into your applications!
6. Put the Finishing Touches on Your Application
If you’ve made it through the steps outlined in this post thus far, you’ll soon be ready to send in an amazing college application. But sometimes it can still be kind of nerve-wracking to actually click “Submit”! How can you be sure that you’ve done absolutely everything you can to make sure that your dream school sees you in your best light? What if a disastrous typo snuck in there somewhere? Here’s my secret strategy for how to conduct a final read of your application…so you can turn it in and rest easy!
Conclusion
Even with this full library of text and video resources at your disposal, you might still find yourself wanting to go deeper on some of them, or to develop a customized strategy that helps highlight YOUR strengths. That’s where I, and my fifteen years of experience, come in! I don’t just offer SAT and ACT prep services—I also offer a Personal Statement package where I’ll bring you from brainstorming sesh to completed essay.
Sending you all the good luck as we enter the home stretch of the college admissions marathon!
