While The Common Application will only go live on August 1st 2010, a month later than last year, students can now see the information they will need to provide and put it together well in advance of that date. You can preview the common application  by clicking on this link below:

https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/CommonApp2011.pdf

For those of you who are not aware of what The Common Application is here’s a brief overview:

  • The Common Application is a not-for-profit organization that provides an admission application – online and in print – that students may submit it to any one of 414 member schools that accept it.
  • The Common Application will ask you to fill in background information and asks you to answer 2 short answer questions and 1 essay. This information will then be viewed by all the colleges you apply to. Many colleges will also ask you to fill in a supplement for their specific institution – that information would then only be viewed by that particular institution.

The essay topics in this year’s common application are pretty much the same as last year:

Personal Essay. Please write an essay (250 words minimum) on a topic of your choice or on one of the options listed below, and attach it to your application before submission. Please indicate your topic by checking the appropriate box. This personal essay helps us become acquainted with you as a person and student, apart from courses, grades, test scores, and other objective data. It will also demonstrate your ability to organize your thoughts and express yourself.

  • Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
  • Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
  • Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
  • Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
  • A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
  • Topic of your choice.