Reading for main idea_Steps to use CommonApp: What's common app?

Filling out your application takes time.

And if you have to keep interrupting your progress to find information, like a certificate for a continuing education course or the address of your last internship, it can take even longer. 

Get a head start by collecting this information before you begin.

A copy of your high school transcript

A list of your activities, work, and family responsibilities

Test scores and dates from your college entrance exams (SATs, ACTs, etc.)

Parent/Legal guardian information

Academic honors and achievements

• Gather materials

• Create an account

• Add colleges

• Engage supporters

• Understanding requirements

Get started at any time

Creating a first year Common App account is easy and should only take a few minutes.

Choose your registration type.

If you are applying to college for the first time you'll select the "First Year Student" button.

Provide your login credentials.

Make sure you use an email address you check often. This is the email the Common App and colleges will use to get in touch with you.

Complete your registration information.

We will need some basic information about you like your name, home address, phone number, and date of birth.

Be sure to use your legal name as it appears on official school documents and standardized tests. This will make sure colleges can match documents to the correct person.

At the end, you will adjust your communication preferences and accept the Common App privacy policy.

Select "Create Account" to complete your account. 

Congratulations on taking this first step in the college application journey!

• Understanding requirements

• Plan essays

• Create an account

• Submit your application

• Add colleges

Start building your My Colleges list

Once you’ve created your account and explored the colleges that accept the Common App, you're ready to start adding colleges.

The College Search tab is where you will search for and add the colleges you want to apply to. If you have a school in mind you can search by name. If you want to keep exploring, you can use the more filters button. Some filters include:

State or country

Distance from a zip code

Enrollment term

Application deadline

Application fees*

Writing requirements

Standardized testing policy

Recommendation requirement

Adding a college is easy! You may add a college using the add button in the search results list. You can also select a college and add them using the "Add to My Colleges" button from their info screen.

Once you've added colleges, you can see them on your Dashboard and in your My Colleges tab. Keep in mind you may only add up to 20 colleges. You may adjust your list of colleges at any time. Once you've submitted, you will not be able to remove those schools from your My Colleges list.

* While some colleges may charge an application fee, others have no fee to apply. And, many will offer fee waivers under certain circumstances, including financial need, veteran status, and more. 

• Understanding requirements

• Plan essays

• Create an account

• Submit your application

• Add colleges

Collaborate with counselors, teachers, and more

All colleges need things like official school forms. Many colleges will also ask for letters of recommendation.

Counselors, teachers, and recommenders will submit these kinds of forms on your behalf. Here are the types of recommenders you can invite in the Common App.

Counselors

Parents

Teachers

Other Recommenders

Advisors

Every college gets to choose their own recommendation requirements. You can find more details on each college's "College Information" page.

Inviting and Assigning Recommenders

From the My Colleges tab select a college and open their "Recommenders and FERPA" section.

If you have not done so already, you will need to complete the FERPA Release Authorization.

Invite recommenders using the invite button from each section. You may also use the "Invite Recommenders" button at the top.

Select the type of invitation you would like to send. For each invitation you will need information like their name and email address.

After you add a recommender, you can view their info using the Manage Recommenders button.

Note that teachers, parents, and other recommenders will not receive an email invitation until you assign them to a college. To assign these recommenders, go to their section within this screen. Select their name from the dropdown and use the assign button.

If your high school uses Naviance or another partner software, you will not invite your counselor or teachers here. There will be instructional text on this page explaining what to do next. You will still add other recommenders and advisors using the steps above.

In general, each college has their own recommendation requirements. For example, one college may need two teacher recommendations. Some colleges may not want any teacher recommendations. Colleges can also determine what kinds of other recommenders they want. Some may allow for any recommender type, whereas others only allow an employer recommendation.

• Understanding requirements

• Engage supporters

• Create an account

• Submit your application

• Add colleges

Keep track of each college’s unique application requirements

It's important to stay organized as you work on your applications.

Each college needs you to complete common questions and add counselor. Beyond that their applications vary. Each college can determine their unique requirements for:

Deadlines

Application Fees

Personal Essay

Courses & Grades

Test Policy

Portfolio

Writing Supplements

Recommendations

Here are some places where you can find each college's specific requirements:

Explore Colleges

My Colleges

Requirements Grid

Writing Requirements by College

ACCOUNT ROLLOVER

Did you know: Common App accounts can roll over from year to year?

Account Rollover is a great tool to explore the Common App, save answers to questions in the Common App tab of your account, and house ideas for your essay.

• Understanding requirements

• Engage supporters

• Create an account

• Submit your application

• Add colleges

Organize and plan for your writing prompts

Sometimes writings essays can feel like the biggest part of your application. With a little bit of planning, organizing, and drafting, we can help you make this task more manageable.

As you work on your applications you can find essays or short answer questions in three sections:

Common App Personal Essay

College-specific questions

Writing supplements

• Understanding requirements

• Engage supporters

• Create an account

• Plan Essays

• Add colleges

Review and submit your application

Submission is a three-step process: 1) Reviewing your application. 2) Paying the application fee (if applicable). 3) Submitting your application.

• Understanding requirements

• Engage supporters

• Create an account

• Plan Essays

• Submit your application