There's an App for That

Roughly 30 years ago, schools joined together to make the application for potential students faster, easier, and more convenient. The Common Application is an online college application that is accepted by 392 institutions around the United States, and is expected to grow every year.

It all started in 1975 when 15 private schools decided to join forces to create an application that would make it easier for potential students to apply to more than one school.

“When you log on, you just choose the schools you want to apply to. There’s so many of them,” senior Kyle Olson-Merrick said, “Then you fill out all of the questions. The best part is that it saves your application for all of the colleges you picked so you only have to fill it out once.”

Most counselors suggest the Common App because it is so uniform. There is an essay portion, along with basic demographics. Some colleges have a supplement that a prospective student will have to fill out in addition; however none are longer than a page.

According to The Common Application, “We serve students, member institutions, and secondary schools by providing applications – online and in print – that students and school officials may submit to any of our nearly 400 members.”

Counselors are required to send in transcripts to the colleges after the submission of the online application, and letters of recommendation are a necessity for most institutions. Selected teachers are notified of the recommendation request via e-mail, and can send letters in electronically for free.

Senior Joe Popham said., “It’s really streamline and easy to use. One app does it all.”

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