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The 'Common Application' (informally known as the 'Common App') is a college admission application that students may use to apply to any of 321 member colleges and universities in the United States. It reduces the workload of students who would otherwise have to complete separate applications to several colleges.
The questions on the Common App range from the home life of the student to academic achievements to standardized test scores such as the SAT or ACT and other information that colleges use to evaluate students for admission.

Contents

Supplements

Online Application

Online Membership

Current Members

References

External links

Supplements

While the Common Application itself is an extensive look into a student's academic life, it is often hard for a school to get a full picture of the student's character exclusively from the application itself. Often colleges will have supplements that an applicant must fill out along with the Common App in order to be considered for admission. This can range from a few yes or no questions about alumni relations or minority status to full essays pertaining to certain aspects of the school. The Common App online application often states whether a school needs a supplement and will automatically fill in the fields that the student has already filled in on previous uses of the Common Application.

Online Application

The application consists of both a print and an online version.[1]
The online version allows the application to be filled out once online and submitted to all schools with the same information going to each. Students can select to use the online application to fill out information and print out the completed application in PDF format to be sent in by mail.
A student can elect to send variations of the same application with edits to specific schools by using the 'copy' feature on the online application. Students often use this feature to submit different test scores to different schools (as the ACT exam allows students to selectively decide which schools receive their scores).
Once the application is submitted to a school, it cannot be edited electronically; the school must be contacted directly if a student wishes to make changes to a submitted application.
Applicants can organize payment for applications and supplements online.
Some schools like Allegheny College, Colgate University, Lewis & Clark College, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Wellesley College do not charge an admission fee if their application or the Common Application is submitted online.
Drawbacks to the online application include very strict limitations on the length of answers (especially for essays) and room for special circumstances that cannot fit into the spaces provided by the application.

Online Membership

Students must sign up for the Common Application online if they wish to take advantage of online features of the application. They can only register once, but can apply to as many schools as they want through the website.
Universities that accept the Common Application do so by choice. If they have a separate proprietary application, they are required to give equal consideration to applicants using either form. The Common Application is not offered to universities who do not agree to treat it in this way. Additionally, the Common Application requires schools that use it to embrace a holistic approach to admission.
As of July 2007, the Common Application website lists 315 colleges and universities as members. Of these, approximately one-third are "exclusive users" that use the Common Application as their only printed application. Some members require supplements that ask for information beyond that contained in the Common Application.

Current Members

1. Adelphi University

2. Agnes Scott College

3. Albertson College of Idaho

4. Albion College

5. Albright College

6. Alfred University

7. Allegheny College

8. American University

9. Amherst College

10. Arcadia University

11. Assumption College

12. Augsburg College

13. Augustana College (IL)

14. Augustana College (SD)

15. Austin College

16. Babson College

17. Baldwin-Wallace College

18. Bard College

19. Barnard College

20. Bates College

21. Belmont University

22. Beloit College

23. Bennington College

24. Bentley College

25. Berry College

26. Bethany College

27. Binghamton University (SUNY)
★

28. Birmingham Southern College

29. Boston College

30. Boston University

31. Bowdoin College

32. Bradley University

33. Brandeis University

34. Bryant University

35. Bryn Mawr College

36. Bucknell University

37. Burlington College

38. Butler University

39. CalTech (California Institute of Technology)

40. California Lutheran University

41. Carleton College

42. Carnegie Mellon University

43. Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar

44. Case Western Reserve University

45. Catholic University of America

46. Cazenovia College

47. Centenary College

48. Centre College

49. Champlain College

50. Chatham University

51. Claremont McKenna College

52. Clark University

53. Clarkson University

54. Coe College

55. Colby College

56. Colby-Sawyer College

57. Colgate University

58. College of Mount Saint Vincent

59. College of New Jersey
★

60. College of Notre Dame of Maryland

61. College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University

62. College of Santa Fe

63. College of the Atlantic

64. College of the Holy Cross

65. College of William and Mary
★

66. College of Wooster

67. Colorado College

68. Colorado State University
★

69. Concordia College

70. Connecticut College

71. Converse College

72. Cornell College

73. Cornell University

74. Creighton University

75. Dartmouth College

76. Davidson College

77. Denison University

78. DePauw University

79. Dickinson College

80. Dominican University of California

81. Drew University

82. Drexel University

83. Duke University

84. Earlham College

85. Eckerd College

86. Elizabethtown College

87. Elmira College

88. Emerson College

89. Emmanuel College

90. Emory University

91. Eugene Lang College

92. Fairfield University

93. Fisk University

94. Florida Southern College

95. Fordham University

96. Franklin and Marshall College

97. Franklin Pierce University

98. Furman University

99. Geneseo College (SUNY)
★

100. George Fox University

101. George Washington University

102. Gettysburg College

103. Gonzaga University

104. Goucher College

105. Green Mountain College

106. Grinnell College

107. Guilford College

108. Gustavus Adolphus College

109. Hamilton College

110. Hampden-Sydney College

111. Hampshire College

112. Hanover College

113. Hartwick College

114. Harvard College

115. Harvey Mudd College

116. Haverford College

117. Hendrix College

118. Hillsdale College

119. Hiram College

120. Hobart and William Smith Colleges

121. Hofstra University

122. Hollins University

123. Illinois Institute of Technology

124. Illinois Wesleyan University

125. Iona College

126. Ithaca College

127. John Carroll University

128. Johns Hopkins University

129. Juniata College

130. Kalamazoo College

131. Kenyon College

132. Keystone College

133. Knox College

134. La Roche College

135. La Salle University

136. Lafayette College

137. Lake Forest College

138. Lawrence Technological University

139. Lawrence University

140. Le Moyne College

141. Lehigh University

142. Lesley College

143. Lewis and Clark College

144. Linfield College

145. List College, Jewish Theological Seminary

146. Loyola College in Maryland

147. Loyola University New Orleans

148. Luther College

149. Macalester College

150. Manhattan College

151. Manhattanville College

152. Marietta College

153. Marist College

154. Marlboro College

155. Marquette University

156. Massachusetts College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences

157. McDaniel College

158. Meredith College

159. Merrimack College

160. Miami University (OH)
★

161. Middlebury College

162. Mills College

163. Millsaps College

164. Moravian College

165. Morehouse College

166. Mount Holyoke College

167. Muhlenberg College

168. Naropa University

169. Nazareth College

170. New College of Florida
★

171. New England College

172. New York University

173. Nichols College

174. Northeastern University

175. Northland College

176. Northwestern University

177. Notre Dame de Namur University

178. Oberlin College

179. Occidental College

180. Oglethorpe University

181. Ohio Wesleyan University

182. Pace University

183. Pacific University

184. Pitzer College

185. Pomona College

186. Presbyterian College

187. Prescott College

188. Princeton University

189. Providence College

190. Quinnipiac University

191. Randolph College

192. Randolph-Macon College

193. Reed College

194. Regis College

195. Regis University

196. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

197. Rhodes College

198. Rice University

199. Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
★

200. Rider University

201. Ripon College

202. Rochester Institute of Technology

203. Roger Williams University

204. Rollins College

205. Sacred Heart University

206. Saint Anselm College

207. Saint Joseph's College of Maine

208. Saint Joseph's University

209. St. Lawrence University

210. Saint Leo University

211. Saint Louis University

212. Saint Mary's College (IN)

213. Saint Mary's College of California

214. Saint Michael's College

215. St. Norbert College

216. St. Olaf College

217. Saint Peter's College

218. Saint Vincent College

219. Salem College

220. Salve Regina University

221. Santa Clara University

222. Sarah Lawrence College

223. Scripps College

224. Seattle University

225. Seton Hall University

226. Seton Hill University

227. Sewanee (Univ of the South)

228. Siena College

229. Simmons College

230. Skidmore College

231. Smith College

232. Southern Methodist University

233. Southern New Hampshire University

234. Southwestern University

235. Spelman College

236. Spring Hill College

237. Stanford University

238. Stetson University

239. Stevens Institute of Technology

240. Stonehill College

241. Suffolk University

242. Susquehanna University

243. Swarthmore College

244. Sweet Briar College

245. Syracuse University

246. TCU (Texas Christian University)

247. Thiel College

248. Thomas College

249. Transylvania University

250. Trinity College (CT)

251. Trinity University (TX)

252. Tufts University

253. Tulane University

254. Union College

255. University at Albany (SUNY)
★

256. University of Dallas

257. University of Dayton

258. University of Delaware
★

259. University of Denver

260. University of Findlay

261. University of La Verne

262. University of Maine
★

263. University of Maine at Farmington
★

264. University of Mary Washington
★

265. University of Massachusetts - Amherst
★

266. University of Miami

267. University of New Hampshire
★

268. University of New Haven

269. University of Pennsylvania

270. University of Portland

271. University of Puget Sound

272. University of Redlands

273. University of Richmond

274. University of Rochester

275. University of San Diego

276. University of San Francisco

277. University of Scranton

278. University of Southern Maine
★

279. University of Tampa

280. University of the Pacific

281. University of Tulsa

282. University of Vermont
★

283. Ursinus College

284. Utica College

285. Valparaiso University

286. Vanderbilt University

287. Vassar College

288. Villanova University

289. Wabash College

290. Wagner College

291. Wake Forest University

292. Washington & Jefferson College

293. Washington & Lee University

294. Washington College

295. Washington University in St. Louis

296. Webster University

297. Wellesley College

298. Wells College

299. Wesleyan University

300. Westminster College (MO)

301. Westminster College (PA)

302. Westminster College (UT)

303. Wheaton College (MA)

304. Wheelock College

305. Whitman College

306. Whittier College

307. Willamette University

308. William Jewell College

309. Williams College

310. Wilson College

311. Wittenberg University

312. Wofford College

313. WPI (Worcester Polytechnic Institute)

314. Xavier University

315. Yale University

''
★ Public Institution''

References

External links

★ Common Application