The Common Application is a not-for-profit membership association of colleges and universities committed to promoting college access through a holistic admission process. Last year, nearly 500,000 students used Common App Online, the association’s free web-based application service, to apply to 400 different institutions. Of these students, 30% were first-generation applicants. This workshop will familiarize programs with The Common Application and Common App Online, paying particular attention to the site’s extensive support resources. Participants will be invited to offer recommendations on how The Common Application can support community-based counselors as we work together to meet the specific needs of first-generation and low-income students.

1. UnderstandingThe Common Application:A Toolkit for Programs Scott Anderson, Director of Outreach The Common Application NPEA National Conference Atlanta 2011

2. Today’s Goals Association overview and membership update Current year review Support resources Your questions

3. The Association Not-for-profit membership association Public and private colleges and universities Four-year, accredited, not-for-profit institutions Mission: to promote holistic admission as a path to college access Free services for applicants and secondary schools Volunteer Board of Directors 9 chief enrollment officers 4 school counselors Two Advisory Committees School and CBO counselors Admission officers

4. 2011-12 Membership 49 new members (461 total, 1/3 exclusive users) 17 new public institutions (62 total) 2 new public flagships (12 total): University of Kentucky, UNC-Chapel Hill 1 new large national private: University of Southern California 4 new international universities (6 total): American U of Paris, Franklin College Switzerland, John Cabot University (Italy), University of St. Andrews (UK) 2 new states (46 total): Wheeling Jesuit University (WV), Sierra Nevada College (NV) 1 new HBCU (5 total): Howard University

5. Membership Growth

6. 2010-11 Statistics Applications 560,000 unique applicants (+18%) 2.34 million applications (+23%) SchoolForms 17,000 highschoolsrepresented (+22%) 241,000 schoolofficials have submittedonline (+53%) 5.34 million schoolformssubmitted (+100%) CommunityBasedOrganizations 29,000 responded (5% of applicants)

7. 2011-12 Applicants

8. School Affiliation

9. Registration Register at www.commonapp.org 2011-12 Common App Online goes live August 1, 2011 Students can create an account now and explore the site, but… They will need to create a new account after August 1 Any information entered now will be deleted in July Students should learn what they can nowbut not put too much time into it

10. www.commonapp.org

11. www.commonapp.org

12. Parts of the Application Personal, demographic, and family information School information, testing history, academic honors Extracurricular activities and work experience Writing Short answer about most meaningful activity Personal essay (250-500 words), choice of six topics Supplement About 2/3 require a supplement College-specific questions, different for each college Additional writing in some cases Application fee Paid to the college, not to Common App Fee waivers are available for eligible students

16. Interactive deadlines and requirements gridOther Resources External links regarding testing, financial aid, and fee waivers

19. Printable application, whole and in sections

22. Questions? What Best Practices do you follow in helping students complete The Common Application? How can The Common Application better support you and your students?

23. Thank You! Scott Anderson Director of Outreach sanderson@commonapp.org www.commonapp.org