Embedded Files
What is the college application and how do I apply?
The majority of schools use the Common Application as their application portal. Some schools have an application portal built into their website, and other schools use an application portal called the Coalition App (similar to the Common App). Creating an account on any of these portals is free, but applying to a college/university does have a cost associated with it.
All applications are created and submitted online.
The Common Application
Most colleges use the Common Application to collect materials and applications from prospective students. You can create an application using the Common App here.
Here is a full list of schools that use the Common App.
Once you create your Common App account, you will fill out information about yourself regarding your demographics, family, academics, and extracurriculars. This information will be saved and sent to all of the schools you apply to.
Once you fill this information out, you can add colleges to your "list." Colleges will have additional information they want, which you will fill out on each school's profile in your "college list" on the Common App. This information will be sent to that school only, in addition to your Common App profile information.
The following VIDEO will help you create a Common App account.
Completing the Common App Sections:
Once you create a username/password for your Common App account, you can begin filling out your Common App.
Your Common App consists of 6 sections, and can be found in the Common App section of your dashboard:
Profile
Family
Education
Testing
Activities
Writing
1) The PROFILE section:
The profile section will ask some basic information that includes personal information, your address, contact information, demographic information, citizenship status, etc.
The profile section also includes where you would indicate a need for a fee waiver, which is the very last tab under the profile section. If you qualify for free/reduced lunch at the high school, or fall under any of the guidelines listed here, then you can click 'yes' to qualifying for a fee waiver, which some schools will grant you.
2) The FAMILY section:
The family section of the Common App wants to know a bit about your parents and any siblings you may have. It will ask about their education and a bit about their background. Any question that has a red asterisk (*) next to it is required in order to submit your application.
3) The EDUCATION section:
This is where the Common App gets into the nitty gritty, so we will break up the parts of the 'education section' one-by-one.
a) Current or Most Recent Secondary School--
This section is discussing where you are currently attending high school, which would be Fairhaven High School. **If you've attended FHS since your freshman year and are in the Class of 2025, you have been attending since AUGUST 2021.
b) Other Secondary / High Schools?
This section is asking if you've attended any high schools other than Fairhaven High School. If you haven not, then the answer is 0. If you have, enter the number of other high school's you've attended and their name/location.
c) Colleges & Universities--
This section is asking if you've taken any college level coursework-- this would include dual enrollment courses you've taken (e.g. at Bristol Community College or UMassD).
d) Grades-- FOR THE CLASS OF 2025, THIS INFORMATION WILL COME OUT IN SEPTEMBER 2024:
This section is inquiring about information related to your class and the school profile related to grading and course level.
Our grades section should read as such:
Graduating class size: (TBD)
Class rank reporting: Exact
Exact Rank: Contact your school counselor
Rank weighting: Weighted
Cumulative GPA: Contact your school counselor
GPA weighting: Weighted
e) Current or Most Recent Year Courses
This section is looking for the courses you are (or will be taking) during your senior year at FHS.
*You should include physical education and elective courses.
For each course you are taking senior year, the following will be indicated:
Course name: course name should be written out fully and without the course level (e.g. Statistics & Quantitative Reasoning).
Course level: indicates the level of the course (CP, Honors, AP, Dual Enrollment).
f) Honors
This section is asking about any academic honors, distinctions, or recognition you've received since your freshman year of high school (school based or otherwise). This could include things like National Honor Society, Seal of Biliteracy, ESL Awards, winning a poetry contest you've entered, etc.).
**This does NOT include Honors/AP level courses**
g) Community-Based Organizations
Community-based organizations are ones that have provided you with free support related to the college process. Typically, you put 0 for this question.
h) Future Plans
The future plans section is asking about what, at this point, you plan to pursue as a career and if you plan to pursue education beyond a two-or-four-year degree. It is OK to put "undecided" (located at the bottom of the dropbox!
4) The TESTING section:
The testing section includes your SAT or ACT scores, subject tests, AP scores, TOEFL scores, etc.
You do NOT need to include your scores here, as any scores you want a school to have must be sent from the College Board or ACT website(s) to be officially considered with your application.
5) The ACTIVITIES section:
The activities section of the Common App is almost like a resume, and serves as a place where you can discuss all of the things you've done that are non-academic related both inside and outside of the high school. This helps colleges get to know you and the things you're passionate about and/or how you spent your time outside of school. These should be activities you've done from 9th grade until now.
Just some of the things that count as activities are:
Athletics (high school, club, etc.)
Working
Art and/or music (e.g. piano, sculpting, chorus, etc.)
Religious youth groups and/or events
Volunteer work and community engagement
Babysitting
Special family responsibilities (e.g. caring for a parent or sibling)
Hobbies (e.g. coin collecting, knitting, etc.)
6) The WRITING section:
The writing section is where you'll include your COLLEGE ESSAY. This is the essay that will get sent to all of the schools you're applying to, and is very different from supplemental essays.
The college essay is a very important piece of your application, as it is the one part of your college application that includes your voice. Make sure to read through your essay very carefully before uploading to your Common Application (Check the "Writing your College Essay" page).
**********************************************
Adding Colleges
-The College Search tab is where you will search for and add the colleges you want to apply to. If you have a school in mind you can search by name. If you want to keep exploring, you can use the more filters button.
-Adding a college is easy! You may add a college using the add button in the search results list. You can also select a college and add them using the "Add to My Colleges" button from their info screen.
Once you've added colleges, you can see them on your Dashboard and in your My Colleges tab. Keep in mind you may only add up to 20 colleges. You may adjust your list of colleges at any time. Once you've submitted, you will not be able to remove those schools from your My Colleges list.
Adding Counselors and Recommenders
Counselors, teachers, and recommenders will submit these kinds of forms on your behalf. Here are the types of recommenders you can invite in the Common App.
Counselors, teachers, and recommenders will submit these kinds of forms on your behalf. Here are the types of recommenders you can invite in the Common App.
Teachers give a firsthand account of your intellectual curiosity and creative thought.
Other recommenders are usually non academic recommenders like coaches, employers, and peers. They give insight into your interests and activities outside of the classroom.
Advisors do not submit any forms. They track and check in on your application progress.
How to Invite Recommenders
From the My Colleges tab select a college and open their "Recommenders and FERPA" section.
If you have not done so already, you will need to complete the FERPA Release Authorization.
Invite recommenders using the invite button from each section. You may also use the "Invite Recommenders" button at the top.
Select the type of invitation you would like to send. For each invitation you will need information like their name and email address.
After you add a recommender, you can view their info using the Manage Recommenders button.
Note that teachers, parents, and other recommenders will not receive an email invitation until you assign them to a college. To assign these recommenders, go to their section within this screen. Select their name from the dropdown and use the assign button.
In general, each college has their own recommendation requirements. For example, one college may need two teacher recommendations. Some colleges may not want any teacher recommendations. Colleges can also determine what kinds of other recommenders they want. Some may allow for any recommender type, whereas others only allow an employer recommendation.
Page updated
Report abuse