The Common Application has expanded to over 900 colleges and universities for 2020-2021 with over 42 new members including Clemson University, the University of Georgia and Texas Tech University. The full list of colleges and universities that will accept the Common App will be available on August 1, 2020 after a few days of updating and refining some questions. An optional essay question about COVID-19 will be available as well.

Applicants will be able to log in with a username and password. If you have already started your application, all your information will be saved. As soon as you place the name of a school on your list of colleges, you will have access to each college’s contact information, standardized test policies, deadlines, requirements, teacher and other recommendations, as well as their specific questions and supplemental essay prompts.

In addition to the Common Application, many colleges accept the Coalition Application. Some states offer their own applications as well. New York State offers the SUNY Application in addition to other options. Students applying to California state universities and colleges must use the state system’s own application. And last, there are universities like Georgetown that require their own individual application!

Rising seniors should be in the process of creating a list of colleges and universities to which they hope to apply for the fall of 2021. Stay tuned for some advice on the College Search in the next College Essay Whiz newsletter!