The Common Application is a general undergraduate application used by 900+ colleges and universities. Fill it out once, and you can apply to up to 20 of them. Here's what's actually inside it, tab by tab.
What It Costs
The Common App itself is free — but each college charges its own application fee, usually $30–$75. If you get just one fee waiver, it covers every college you apply to through the platform (up to 20), for free. You qualify if any of these apply:
- You've received or are eligible for an ACT/SAT fee waiver
- You're enrolled in or eligible for the federal free/reduced-price lunch program
- Your family income falls within the USDA's income eligibility guidelines
- You're in a federal, state, or local program for low-income students (e.g. TRIO/Upward Bound)
- Your family receives public assistance
- You live in subsidized housing, a foster home, or are homeless
- You're a ward of the state or an orphan
- A school official, counselor, or community leader can provide a supporting statement
You get the waiver by adding your counselor to your Common App and emailing them to request it.
When to Start
Early — I recommend July or August before senior year. Some sections (date of birth, address) take seconds. Others, like the essay or family information, take real time. Your counselor also needs time to complete the School Report and counselor recommendation, and some colleges require teacher recommendations that can take a month. Starting early gives everyone breathing room and takes pressure off your school year.
The Five Tabs
After creating your account at commonapp.org, you'll see: Dashboard, My Colleges, Common App, College Search, and Financial Aid Resources.
- College Search — search and add colleges to your list, filterable by country, state, fee, test policy, and more. Only shows schools that use the Common App.
- My Colleges — your added schools and their supplement questions. This is where you submit, invite recommenders, and track your counselor's progress on the fee waiver, school report, and recommendation.
- Dashboard — an overview of what's done and what's left, per college.
- Financial Aid Resources — info on FAFSA and the CSS Profile, plus scholarship guidance.
- Common App — the actual application, split into Profile, Family, Education, Testing, Activities, and Writing.
Profile, Family & Education
Profile asks for basic info you should know off the top of your head — fill out the fee waiver section here if you qualify. Family covers Household, Parents, and Siblings; go through it with a parent or guardian since you may not know their country of birth, degree, or employer. Education covers your current high school (double-check you selected the right one — many share names), any other schools you've attended, dual-enrollment college credit, and your graduating class size (the one required field in the Grades section — colleges pull the rest from your transcript).
Honors
List up to five academic honors (not activities) — Honor Roll, National Honor Society, AP Scholar, National Merit, or local/state/national awards. If you're stuck for ideas, Prep Scholar has a list of 70+ examples worth browsing.
Testing
You can self-report your SAT/ACT scores here — you'll still need to send official score reports later so colleges can verify them, but self-reporting lets admissions see your scores sooner. Only skip self-reporting if you're planning to retest and are confident you'll improve. Haven't tested yet? You can note a future test date and come back to enter scores later.
Activities — The Section That Matters Most
This is where you show colleges who you are outside the classroom. Brainstorm every activity from your whole high school career — athletics, clubs, service, work, ROTC, anything — then choose your top 10. For each one, you'll enter: activity type, position/leadership role, organization name, a description, grade levels, hours per week, weeks per year, and whether you intend to continue in college.
Your description is limited to 150 characters. Use the SMART method — Specific, Measurable actions with Results over time — and separate details with commas instead of writing full sentences. Use strong, specific verbs, not vague ones.
A few real entries from my own Common App, as examples:
| Role | Organization | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Crew Member | McDonald's | Connected with 50 customers at the register daily and took orders, bagged/handed out food at the window, cleaned the restaurant twice daily. |
| Volunteer | Virginia Peninsula Foodbank | Helped set up tables, sort 50–100 food items for expiration, pack and distribute food, transport 20 boxes of food to residents and vehicles. |
| Team Member | Bethel High Track Team | Ran in 7 meets, went to regionals, mentored/supported new members, strengthened myself physically and socially, learned discipline and teamwork. |
| Project Leader | Community Leader Fellowship for Eastern Virginia Youth | Self-teaching HTML/CSS, creating a website to help low-income students through the college application process, researching and blogging articles. |
Estimate your hours honestly — don't claim 15 hours/week across all 10 activities, since admissions will notice. And "intend to participate in college" doesn't obligate you to anything; answer honestly based on whether you'd actually keep it up.
Writing: The Personal Essay
The Personal Essay (250–650 words) is your chance to be more than a GPA and test score — it's where admissions gets a sense of your personality, values, and what you'd bring to campus. It's not required everywhere, but a strong one can meaningfully move the needle.
My honest tips
- Start early. I began mine the first week of August before senior year. Give yourself real time to think, write, and revise.
- Don't be discouraged. A 650-word essay is genuinely hard, especially if you don't know your topic yet. Take breaks when you need to — you don't have to finish in one sitting.
- Write about what you actually care about. Not what you think sounds impressive. If you're genuinely engaged with your topic, that comes through on the page.
- You're not alone. Friends going through the same process, parents and siblings who know you well, and a teacher willing to give you honest feedback are all real resources — use them.
For a full breakdown of how to actually write and structure the essay, see the dedicated guide below.