Overview of College Applications
There are 2 main ways most students apply to college.
The Common Application is the most widely used application.
Some colleges maintain their own College-Specific Applications.(California public schools require their applications to be used).
Common Application
The Common Application is the most frequently utilized application that our students use to apply to college. Most of the colleges in Colorado accept this application. It allows students to enter their information just once, and then provide the specific information required by each college. Some schools accept Common App or their own application, if you are applying to any schools that require Common App it is easier to stick with it for all schools that accept it. Please see: How to create my Common App and Match it to my Naviance Account
Institution Specific Applications
Some schools have an institution specific application. Most community colleges, junior colleges, and some smaller state or private colleges have one application method. Below are three examples of this type of application.
The University of California maintains their own application system, the application must be submitted between October 1 and November 30. Use this application to apply to the following campuses: UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC Merced, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Santa Cruz. The UC requirements for admissions differ from Colorado HS graduation requirements, visit their website for Out Of State Admissions Requirements.
California State University maintains their own application system which opens for Fall 2025 applications on October 1, 2024.
Montana State University is a school that many Golden HS students apply to, they have a pretty quick and easy application process that is institution specific.
Coalition App
Although we don’t have many students use the Coalition App, we prefer that you use the Common App if you have a choice. This is because the Coalition Application doesn’t sync as well with Naviance and is more difficult to manage deadlines on the student’s end.