An academic evaluation is a recommendation submitted by a college academic advisor, professor, dean or instructor who oversees a student's college academic progress. These types of recommenders can only be invited by Transfer applicants. (See Recommenders).
An application fee is the fee that a college charges you for applying to their institution. Some colleges will charge you a fee for applying, and the amount varies from one college to the next. Regardless of the amount, you can provide your payment at the same time that you submit your Common Application.
A CBO is a not-for-profit counseling college access organization that offers free advising for students.
A CEEB code is a unique identification number assigned to high schools, colleges, and universities by the College Board. The CEEB code may be used to help differentiate schools with similar names. Some international schools may not have an assigned CEEB code.
Citizenship is your status as a person recognized under the custom or law as being a member of a state or country. You may have multiple citizenships. Citizenship options in the Common App include: US citizen or US national, US Dual Citizen, US permanent resident, US Refugee, US Asylee, and Other (Non-US). Depending on your citizenship status you may be asked to provide additional information.
Coed is the term used to describe a college or university that offers the integrated education of male and female students in the same environment.
Your Common App ID (CAID) is a unique 8 digit numeric identifier that colleges use to match materials that you submit for admission consideration. The CAID is unique to each individual Common App account and is never duplicated. This exists so that you will never get mixed up with another student that may have, for example, the same name and/or date of birth as you.
The Common Application is the name of our online system used by students to apply to over 600 colleges and universities across the country and around the world.
A counselor is an individual who provides academic, career, and college readiness to all K-12 students through a school counseling program. The counselor is responsible for submitting the applicant's transcripts to colleges. The counselor can only be invited by First-Year applicants.
A counselor recommendation is a form that allows your high school counselor to provide a broad-based assessment of you as a student by addressing things like your academic, extracurricular, and personal characteristics.
A deadline signifies the date by which you must submit your application materials. Once you've added a college to your list and indicated the decision plan under which you want to be considered (e.g. Regular Decision), a date appears in your Common App Dashboard letting you know how much time you have to complete and submit your materials. All deadlines are measured in your local time zone and you'll have until 11:59:59 PM on the date indicated to submit your materials.
Early Action (EA) is an application process by which you apply and receive a decision much earlier than the Regular Decision notification date. However, unlike Early Decision (ED), Early Action is "non-binding." In other words, if accepted by a college under the Early Action plan, you have no obligation to enroll and will have until May 1st to consider the offer and confirm enrollment.
Early Decision (ED) is an application process by which you commit to enrolling to a certain college if you're admitted. You might hear people refer to Early Decision as a "binding" plan. This means that you can apply to other colleges but only one can be marked as your Early Decision college. If admitted to your Early Decision college, you must withdraw your applications from all other colleges.
Commonly referred to as a "personal essay" or "personal statement," the essay within the Common Application gives students the chance to tell their story using one of the writing prompts offered. This is your chance to demonstrate your writing skills and provide colleges with more context about your life experiences. The Common App essay has a 650 word limit.
An evaluation within the Common App is a writing prompt that allows teachers and non-academic recommenders (invited by you) to provide a description of what they think is important about you as a student. This includes a description of academic and personal characteristics, as demonstrated in the classroom or other applicable settings.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is used by nearly all colleges and universities to determine eligibility for federal, state, and college-sponsored financial aid — including grants, educational loans, and work-study programs. Nearly everyone is eligible for some form of financial aid, so be sure to consider this while applying to colleges. You can learn more about this process by visiting FAFSA or checking out the FAFSA eligibility requirements.
Colleges using the Common Application want to make sure that application fees do not pose a barrier for any student who wishes to apply for admission. If you feel that your financial circumstances might qualify you for an application fee waiver, you may request one within the Common Application. Your counselor will be asked to verify your eligibility.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. To learn more, visit the U.S. Department of Education.
The Final Report is a form that is submitted by your high school counselor and typically summarizes your academic performance through the end of your senior year of high school. Like the School Report and Mid Year Report, a counselor can attach an updated transcript that details your coursework and grades through the end of your senior year. The Final Report is the last step for your counselor. Once your counselor submits the Final Report, your counselor forms are complete and they will not be able to submit any additional forms via the Common App.
Student financial aid is funding that is intended to help you pay education-related expenses including things like: tuition, fees, room and board, transportation, books, and supplies for post-secondary education at a community college, four-year college, or university. Questions about Financial Aid should be directed to individual institutions.
You are a first-year applicant if you are projected to complete high school during the 2016-2017 academic year or if you have never enrolled at a college or university. If you have earned college credit in the past, please check with the individual institutions to confirm which application type is most appropriate for your situation.
A gap year is a pause in formal education between graduating from high school and beginning college. It is often used to volunteer, work, or follow some other type of structured program. In the Common App, a gap year is a type of Education Interruption that requires a written explanation in the Education section.
Your GPA (Grade Point Average) is an academic performance measurement calculated based on your grades. While not all schools and educational systems calculate a GPA, many high schools calculate either a weighted or an unweighted GPA. Weighted GPA systems include the difficulty of a course in the calculation. For example, a "B" grade in an Honors Geometry class is equivalent to an "A" in the standard Geometry class. Unweighted GPA systems do not include the difficulty of the class in the calculation.
A high school is the name used in the United States for a secondary school with students between grades 9 and 12. High School comes after primary school (elementary and middle school) and before higher education.
The Common App defines international applicants as residents of another country. There is no separate account type for international applicants. International applicants may create either a First-Year or Transfer account. International applicants may have a different application fee than domestic applicants.
Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements (such as a matriculation examination).
Member Questions are questions that are unique to each college to which you apply. They will have specific response options and some may require you to respond to additional writing prompts. Note: Member Questions are in addition to The Common Application's set of questions that you only have to answer one time for submission to one or more schools.
The Mid Year Report is a form that is submitted by your high school counselor and typically summarizes your academic performance through the middle of your senior year of high school. Like the School Report, a counselor can attach an updated transcript that details your coursework and grades through the middle of your senior year.
The Optional Report is a form that can be submitted by your high school counselor. This particular form is unique in that it is meant to serve as a "just in case" opportunity for counselors to report additional information about a student at any time after the School Report has been submitted. If there is a need for mid-semester grades to be sent to a college — or perhaps there has been an update to your disciplinary history — a counselor can use this form at his/her discretion to provide updates outside of the typical progression of form submission.
A portfolio is a supplemental form used to showcase your special talent in one or more subjects, such as the arts. Portfolios can be submitted to certain colleges that choose to consider them as part of the admission process. Some schools may request a portfolio from all applicants, while others require submissions only for specific programs.
Recommenders are individuals that you invite to provide an assessment or endorsement of you, enabling colleges to get a better idea of who you are — beyond the information you provide in your Common Application. You can invite individuals like a counselor, a teacher, or even your boss at work to be one of your recommenders. Be sure to take note of the college specific requirements (which vary by school) to see who can submit a recommendation on your behalf.
Regular decision (RD) is an application process by which you apply by a specified date and receive an admission decision in a clearly stated period of time. If accepted by a college under this plan, you will have until May 1st to consider the offer and confirm enrollment.
Restrictive Early Action (REA) is an application process similar to Early Action in that you apply and receive a decision much earlier than the Regular Decision notification date. You'll have until May 1st to consider the offer and confirm enrollment. With Restrictive Early Action, however, colleges place certain restrictions on your applications to other early application processes.
Rolling is the term used for a decision plan that lets students submit an application at any time throughout the year. The institutions that offer this plan review applications as they are submitted and render admission decisions throughout the admission cycle. If accepted by a college under this plan, you will have until May 1st to consider the offer and confirm enrollment.
The School Report is a form that is submitted by your high school counselor. It asks your counselor to provide some basic information about you regarding your academic performance, typically through your junior year of high school. The School Report includes things like your course difficulty and grades earned. This is also where counselors are able to attach an official transcript.
Many colleges require you to take and report the results from certain standardized tests. You can self report your test scores within the Common Application for tests including the ACT, SAT/SAT Subject, AP, IB, TOEFL, PTE Academic, and IELTS. It's important that you research which test scores are required by your prospective colleges. Schools may require you to send official score reports directly from the testing agency, in addition to your self-reported scores on the Common App.
A transcript is essentially an inventory of the courses you've taken and the grades you've earned in those courses during your academic career. When using the Common Application, a transcript is typically provided by your counselor (or the equivalent of an academic administrator at your school). This person can submit your transcript through his/her Counselor or Recommender account.
You are a transfer applicant if you currently attend a two-year or four-year college and are seeking a new college to switch to for continuing your education. If you do not currently attend a college but you have earned college credit in the past, please reach out to the individual institutions to confirm which application type is most appropriate for your situation.
When completing your application, you will be presented with a handful of opportunities to provide detailed responses to writing prompts. A common example of a writing prompt is the Personal Essay within the Common Application itself. In addition to the Personal Essay, which a college may or may not require, some colleges might offer additional writing prompts in a separate form called the Writing Supplement. The questions found in Writing Supplements vary from school to school, so be sure to familiarize yourself with this additional form if offered by any college you are applying to. A writing supplement can only be submitted after you submit your Common App and college-specific questions, so be careful not to forget about it.