College Application Platforms

Seniors need to get acquainted with the college application platforms that they will use to actually apply to their list of colleges. The vast majority of colleges use the Common Application and many use Coalition as well. Some, however, use their own application, so it is important to research where you can apply to your colleges.

Details About the Platforms

Now for the fun part. After all the hard work in school, studying for standardized tests, and developing extracurriculars, by senior year it is time to assemble a college application that will be sent to the universities that students want to apply to. Everything they have done up to this point will be used to display their accomplishments, character, and potential to the admissions officers. It is vital that students assemble their applications considering that actual humans will review them and make a decision. Thus, students must appeal to the human element. So how do students apply to college? There are two major college application systems to choose from: The Coalition Application and the Common Application. Coalition has about 132 colleges on the platform while the Common Application contains almost 800. Therefore, it is important to research which platform contains the colleges that students want to apply to. Another difference between the Coalition and the Common App is that all Coalition schools have demonstrated that they provide enough financial support for low-income students, but many schools on the Common App do as well just not all. However, if students are applying to a state school in California, such as the University of California Berkeley or UCLA, they will have to fill out a separate application not listed on any other system. Some other universities have their own unique applications as well. The Common App, Coalition, and UC application all have similar components and outlines, so students can reuse their format and information on one by copying and pasting it into another application.

The General Outline of College Application Platforms

The first task is filling out the student and family profile, which contains questions such as names, date of births, education of parents, and other personal information. Students may need their parents’ help with this part as some questions are very specific.

The second section is the education section. This is where the name of the high school, cumulative GPA, class rank, and other educational information must be inputted. This is not where transcripts are uploaded. For example, on the Common App, the counselor will upload students’ transcripts when they complete the school profile and write the required letter of recommendation. Make sure to ask them if they have completed all required components and submitted the transcripts.

The next section to fill out is the testing section. This is where SAT and ACT scores are reported. On the Common App it will ask for the highest section score. It will also ask for the test date. Important: some colleges request official test scores to be sent directly by the College Board and/or require students to report all test scores, meaning every time they sat for an exam (SAT/ACT). Therefore, applicants must check their colleges’ requirements listed on their websites. The testing section is also where AP, IB, AICE, etc. exam scores can be reported. Again, some colleges require all scores. If the college does not require AP, IB, or AICE scores, students can choose whether they want to submit them based on if they would improve their application. Some colleges prefer to see them, but do not require them. There are pros and cons to reporting and not reporting scores from end of year exams. If the scores are great and above 3 for AP tests, then students should report them. If the score is a 2 or lower, consider not submitting them. If the score is low and is in the same subject area as a student’s intended major, then they should not submit the score. For instance, if an applicant is applying as a math major and got a 2 on AP Calculus AB, then they should not submit unless required to. The more competitive the college, the higher students’ scores should be, meaning a 3 on an AP exam may not necessarily be that impressive, although a 3 will never hurt an applicant. Of course, 4s and 5s on AP exams are ideal if reporting. Not submitting scores does make admissions officers wonder why and may cause them to assume the score(s) was bad or the student did not take the test(s). This is not great, so it is important for students to carefully decide.

The next section is the activities portion. This is where students list all major activities throughout high school and give descriptions of what they did, how many years they did them, and how many hours they spent doing them. This includes volunteering for certain organizations, and of course activities forming the spike, which should be listed first. This should include several activities that fill a good number of spots on the applications. It is critical that applicants demonstrate commitment and activeness in extracurriculars throughout high school and not just during senior year because the latter will not help much. Group similar activities together, like those comprising the spike.

The final portion of the platform is the writing component, or the primary essay often referred to as the personal statement. The personal statement should be the best essay applicants have ever written. It is based on one of several broad prompts that the platforms provide. Applicants need to pick one that they can do well on. The key here is writing a narrative and never summarizing the activities section (more on essays later in this guide). This essay will automatically be sent to all the colleges students are applying to except for those that do not require it.

Depending on the college there may be some supplemental essays that will need to be completed in the school specific application. Supplemental essays will be addressed later in this guide.

Included in the application is an additional information section. If applicants have something important to add to their application, they should use this section, but should not repeat anything already listed elsewhere. Do not write an essay either, just write briefly if truly needed. Special circumstances, like having to support family financially, should be included here to indicate to colleges that applicants may have struggled to find time to participate in extracurriculars or complete schoolwork. Use this section with careful consideration and do not overwhelm admissions officers.

The Common Application, Coalition, and the University of California platforms all essentially follow the outline above. Once applicants have gone through all the steps, and have carefully reviewed all parts of their applications, they can submit them to the schools they want to apply to. All schools do not have to be submitted at once. It is important to carefully review everything before submitting to colleges. Additionally, some colleges have options to submit resumes. If this is the case, check the college’s website to see if they truly prefer applicants submit one or not. For top colleges, like Brown University, applicants should carefully consider sending one. Brown does state that most successful candidates do not submit one so do not unless it includes very important information not already listed in the application.

Application Cycles

College application platforms can be used to apply during four college admissions cycles: early decision, early action, regular decision, and rolling admissions. Early decision is a binding commitment between an applicant and a college that states the student will attend if admitted. There are consequences for breaking the agreement and it may affect chances of getting into other colleges. For students that are very serious about a certain college and know they want to and can afford to attend, they should apply early decision. Why? Early decision cycles offer significantly higher acceptance rates due to the reduced applicant pool. These cycles vary by college, but deadlines are typically in November, often the first of the month. Students will typically receive a decision in mid to late December.

Early action is non-binding and often has higher acceptance rates than the regular application pool, although not as high as early decision. Applicants should apply early action if they are serious about a college(s) and want to learn of their decision(s) sooner, such as in mid to late December. Students can apply to more than one college early action. Some colleges, including some Ivy Leagues, only offer restrictive early action. This is different than traditional early action in that students cannot apply to any other college early action or early decision, but do not have to agree to attend the university if accepted. It also offers comparable acceptance rates to early decision.

Regular decision offers no admissions advantage as the previous options do. The deadlines for this cycle are typically in early January, although some public schools have them in November. Decisions will often be released in March for colleges with deadlines in January and February and February for November deadlines.

Some colleges offer rolling admissions. This cycle typically lasts several months or year around. Applicants will typically receive a decision within 6 weeks from the date they submitted their application. It is important to get applications in as early as possible or it will get harder to be accepted to rolling admissions colleges.