How to Create a Common Application and Link It to Naviance
Common Application
https://apply.commonapp.org/login
How to start your Common Application!
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OjQmvO4urw
Important: Use your Personal/Professional Email
Create Common Application Account
Create an account on Common Application (commonapp.org)
Here for a guide to the Common App if you would like to use it as a reference while completing.
Click When registering for the Common Application, make sure to use a personal, professional email that you check regularly. DO NOT use your MCPS email address!
Add any Common App schools to your Common App account list of schools you’re applying to
NOTE: !The list of schools you have on Common App MUST match the list of schools you are applying to in Naviance:
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdDNylwwEYk&t=12s
Sign the FERPA Waiver (found on Common App)
Click on the “My Colleges” tab
Click on any of your colleges
Click on “Recommenders and FERPA”
Click on “Complete Authorization” button
Agree to the terms and conditions, and sign your name by typing
College Essay Writing
Writing the College Essay
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18LhLkgQGd8rlF08DUST4Jp0Gu6Zzc_cq/view
Essay writing Recording:
Secrets to Successful College Admissions Essays
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es81aYSlza4
Writing the College Essay
CREATE A COMMON APPLICATION
Step 1: Go to commonapp.org
Step 2: Click on “create an account” (on the right side of the webpage) and enter required information
(email address and password)
If you already created an account, login using your email address and password.
Step 3: Click on the “Common App” tab
Step 4: Select “Education” from the list on the left and enter required information (you will know that
you have completed this section when a green checkmark appears)
Your date of entry
Your graduation date
Counselor’s Phone #: 240-740-3750
Counselor’s Email Address: Look for this on the Springbrook website
Step 5: Click on “Colleges” tab and then “college search” link that appears below
Add at least one college to the “my colleges” list
Step 6: Click on “Colleges” tab
On the left, click on “assign recommenders.”
Under “FERPA Release Authorization” click on the “release authorization” link
Fill in the check box that indicates that you read the statement and then click “continue”
Fill in the check box for the authorization statement at the top of the next page.
Under “please select one” fill in the circle that indicates whether you do or do not waive
your right to review recommendation letters. WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU SELECT “I DO
WAIVE THE RIGHT….”
Sign your name and enter the date, then click “save”
LINK YOUR COMMON APPLICATION TO NAVIANCE
Step 7: Go back to your Naviance account and click on the “colleges” tab
Step 8: Then click on “Colleges I’m Applying To”
Any school that you added to your common application will appear here automatically.
Step 9: Enter the email address that you used for the common application and then click “match”
Step 10: Review your list of colleges in your “Colleges I’m Applying To” list. For any school that accepts
the common application, you MUST USE THE COMMON APPLICATION to apply. Answer the “Applying via
Common App?” question with “Yes” for any school that accepts the common application.
Step 11: You can add colleges that DO NOT accept the common application at any time.
What are the 2023-24 Common App Essay Prompts?
Below is the full set of Common App essay prompts for 2023-24.
Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.
We will also retain the optional COVID-19 question within the Additional Information section.