The Common App is Live! The Common App is the application portal website used by over 975 US colleges. At Vela Education, we aim to make this process as straight-froward as possible for students, families, and schools.  In this post, we outline the top tips for you to follow as you complete the Common App.

DO: Get started right away. The Common App refreshes for the upcoming cycle on the 1^st of August. You can open an account and start filling out all your personal information. You do not need to have a complete list of colleges before you start this process. You can search and add or take off colleges as you finalise your list.

DON’T: Try and do it all in one go. There are a lot of sections to work through and the biggest mistake you can make is to try to complete it in one night. Work through the application piece-by-piece, keeping track of your progress and remembering to save as you go.

DO: Add your colleges to your list as you go. On the Common App, there are supplemental sections for each college. These sections vary from university to university. For some, you may just have questions to answer and for others there might be supplemental essays to add.

DON’T: Get caught out at the last minute. You should add colleges to the Common App as soon as you decide on them and note down which ones require essays. Some of the essays will only appear once you have filled out certain questions (e.g. if you want to study engineering, that programme might have a supplement essay that only appears if you indicate your interest). Try to do this early in the process so you have plenty of time to write strong supplements.

DO: Create a calendar. The Common App Dashboard tab will help you keep track of all your deadlines. Make sure you add these to your calendar. There are different deadlines for different universities. Remember that each college will need the main section of your common app, which includes your personal statement. Before you send off that first application, make sure you are happy with everything on the main tab of the college board website. Start early so you can space out your work and you aren’t rushing to finish everything at the last minute.

Don’t: Forget to re-read. Ready to submit? Excellent work! Have you proof-read everything? The Common App has a handy preview button. This allows you to download your Common App as a pdf and go through everything with a fine-tooth comb. Make sure all the information is correct and that everything is also spelled correctly. If you are able, print it out to make the re-read easier.

It is worth noting that the following colleges do not use the Common App and use their own systems: Universities of California, Georgetown, MIT, and others. Please do check with your advisor or ask Vela Education if you have any questions!

We will have a free webinar on the Common App; register here.