It’s mid-December, meaning regular decision college admissions deadlines are right around the corner! Applications are due during the first few weeks of January for most U.S. schools.
If you’ve already turned in an Early Decision I or Early Action app, you’ve already done a lot of the big-picture thinking and written most of the text that will go into your regular decision applications. Chances are you’ve crafted a Common App personal statement and a strong activities list. That’s good news!
If I’ve just described your sitch, then all that remains to be done in terms of your RD apps is for you to write the supplemental essays required by your respective schools. (That’s not to say you should procrastinate on those additional essays: they do still matter and can still take a substantial chunk of time to write! Nonetheless, you’re allowed to give yourself a high five before buckling down to work again.)
I’d also recommend reading back through your Common Application and making a few edits. After all, you should be able to look at it with a more objective perspective, now that a bit of time has passed since you first drafted it.
If you have not yet hit submit on any applications, you’ve still got time to do so. Not MUCH time, mind you. But if you buckle up right now, you’ll have enough time to finish everything—in a way that passionately conveys who you are, what you care about, and what you have to offer a prospective school. And today’s post is your personal guide to HOW you’re going to do that.
What follows is a full list of the guidance my blog has provided about applying to excellent schools. Since I’m always adding new resources dedicated to helping you with your applications, this list of handy articles keeps growing.
So, here’s the NEW, updated list to help you with your common app, wherever you are in your essay writing and application process!
Article Contents
1. Common App Basics
If you are running behind and haven’t yet poked around the Common Application, here’s what you need to read ASAP in order to understand the different sections and get a birds-eye sense of the task before you: my thorough breakdown of the Common App. (If you’re REALLY short on time, here’s my briefer guide to the Common App!)
Also, the Common App often changes from year to year. And I always provide update posts when it does. It’s really important that you’re not going off of old information and advice when you start writing your application!
However, this past year—the 2024 version of the App—saw no changes to the Common App in terms of the student experience of filling it out. So, my 2023 update post remains accurate.
That being said, the Common App did undergo some changes on the administrative level this year. The Common App surpassed 1100+ partner colleges and updated its program for "direct admissions," which works with 117 partner colleges to increase the number of first-generation and low- and middle-income students attending secondary education.
2. Write an Excellent Personal Statement
This is the most significant piece of your application: a 650-word essay in which you most fully express who you are, what you believe in, and connect the dots of the rest of your college application. It’s no small feat, but you can do it! Here’s how:
First, peruse this year’s Common App essay prompts. (HINT: they’re the same as last year’s!)
Next, read the post I wrote about how to come up with your Common App essay topic. TL;DR: you can write about almost any topic and it will fit into one of the prompts. So pick a subject that will show YOU off best, not a subject that most perfectly aligns with a prompt.
If you’d like the next-level version of the above post, with lots of specific topic ideas to help inspire you, check out my Ace the Personal Statement Guide for just $9.
Then, BEFORE you open up a new document, you should learn what an “Organizing Principle” is, and why your application needs one. The strongest applicants use their essay to weave together the disparate pieces of their application and their resume and tell the admissions reader who you REALLY are. It’s a tall order…
…BUT I can help you through it. Check out the exercises I’ve laid out in this piece about how to find your Organizing Principle—it will help you articulate a coherent vision of yourself that makes for a stellar Common App essay.
If you find yourself hitting Common App essay writer’s block, you’re not alone! And I can help you move past it. THEN, return to the previous step and determine your organizing principle! (If you prefer to watch your educational content, I’ve got a video version of that article, too!)
3. How to write a good Common App Activities List
After your main essay, your Activities List is the second-most important part of your application. It should give your target colleges serious insight into who you are and what you’ll add to their campus.
I see way too many students waste the opportunities presented by this section (at least before I take my expert editor’s eye to things, that is)! This shouldn’t just be a haphazard brain-dump of everything you’ve done for the past four years. Instead, you need to organize and describe every item on your list in a way that optimizes the 10 activities you’re allowed to include. My article on the subject tells you how to write an Activities List that will wow your admissions reader.
4. Write Supplemental Essays (and Possibly the COVID Essay)
Once you finish the main Common App sections, you may still have more writing to do, depending on which schools you’re applying to. If they so choose, each college can require supplemental (or “additional”) essays for THEIR particular application. These extra essays can take substantial time and effort to your submission process, so definitely give yourself ample time before the due date to start them! (In the middle of December, that time is absolutely right now.)
That being said, the supplemental essay that most frequently comes up is some version of “Why us?” or “Why do you want to attend our college?” Here’s my straightforward strategy for brainstorming and writing the “why this college?” essay. (Video version here!) This method saves my clients a lot of time and stress….and it’ll do the same for you.
Relatedly, the “Additional Information” section of the Common App gives you the option to discuss any significant impact the COVID-19 pandemic (and/or natural disasters) may have had upon your home life and education. Here’s the best strategy explaining whether it’s advantageous for you, in particular, to answer it, now that several years have passed since the pandemic began—and how to write a strong version of the essay.
5. Avoid these Top Application Mistakes
Before hitting “submit” on your app, it’s worth taking a quick skim of this list of the 10 biggest mistakes to avoid while presenting yourself to colleges. Yes, despite how bananas some of these “strategies” might seem, I am sorry to say that ALL of them are things that I’ve seen high schoolers try (before I walked them back from the cliff, that is!).
Let’s make sure you’re not shooting yourself in the foot after all the hard work you’ve put into your applications.
6. Put the Finishing Touches on Your Application
If you’ve progressed through the stages outlined in this post thus far, you’ll soon be ready to send in superlative college applications. But sometimes it can still be kind of heart-stopping to click “Submit”! How can you be sure that you’ve done absolutely everything you can to make sure that your dream school sees you in your best light? Here’s my checklist of how to do a final review of your application…so you can turn it in and rest easy!
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Even with all of these written and video resources, you might still find yourself wanting more in-depth info, or a specific-to-you strategy for your college applications from someone with 15+ years of experience. That’s where I come in! I don’t just offer targeted guidance for your SAT and ACT prep—I also offer a Personal Statement package where I’ll bring you from brainstorm to finished essay.
Sending you lots of good vibes as we enter the home stretch of the long and winding college admissions path!
