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The Common Application Application WorkshopAchieveMpls Career & College CenterFall 2011

+The Common Application

450+ applications on one site! When given an option between the Common App or

institutional application, choose the Common App.

45 new members including: Howard U, UNC – Chapel Hill, University of Kentucky, University of Southern California, Seton Hill, Whitworth University For full list of participating schools, go to “Member Colleges

and Universities” on the homepage

+Common App Cautions

Spend the same amount of time on short and long answer questions

Double check the names of all universities on all supplements

Verify you’ve completed all supplements

Prioritize your list of activities (even if attaching an activity resume) Leadership positions, hours/years of involvement in activity

+Common App Cautions

Don’t ignore character count Common App has a 1000-character count maximum on

short answer questions Look for the character count *with* spaces.

The Essay “Because the essay is an uploaded document, the online

system cannot enforce a word count.  Nonetheless, applicants are expected to adhere to the instructions specifying a range of 250-500 words” (CommonApp website)

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Common App Tips

+Some Common App Tips

How to submit the Common App for multiple schools: After you have submitted your first application, to submit

further applications please follow these directions “Go to the Signature page check the box for the college to which you would like to

submit  Ensure all boxes in the Certification area are checked  Type your name and the date into the appropriate fields  Click the Submit button at the bottom”

Source: CommonApp Website

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+More tips

List the activities most important to you first! Hours completed Number of years participated? Leadership positions held? Common App will only allow you 10 activities in this section

Complete all supplements Supplements can be found in the Future Plans section (you

must first add colleges to “My Colleges”) Check the college name on all supplements before

submitting your application

Complete everything online!

+More tips…

If you can’t find a CEEB code “If you do not see the school name on this list, you will

need to refine the search, then click the search button once again. 

If you are still unable to find the CEEB code, you can click "not found" at the bottom of the page.  This will populate the CEEB code field with 0000. (CommonApp website)

+Helpful Tips (from Common App)

“Save your work often.

Logout after each session.

Use a word processor to type your writing samples before cutting and pasting or uploading them into the online forms.

Use Print Previews to view your forms before submitting. (You will need to install Adobe Acrobat Reader. It's free.)”

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Places to go for help…

+Help resources

Common Questions Common App Homepage

Help Button Top right corner after signing in to your account

Support Center for Applicants/Applicant Support Based on a category

Example – “Account Issues”, “ Early Decision” http://s3.parature.com/ics/support/TSFolder.asp?task=ticket