Welcome to Common App Ready.
Students should navigate to commonapp.org, click on Apply Now to create a new account or to Sign In to an existing account.
Applicants can navigate to the Common App tab to begin working on the Common Application.
The Education section is where you share information about your current school and coursework along with any Honors you’ve achieved and your future education plan.
You’ll start with your current or most recent school.
Applicants should enter information about the school that they are currently attending or most recently attended.
Applicants should enter information about the school that they are currently attending or most recently attended.
Students can search for their high school by CEEB code, School name, Country or City.
It is very important that students correctly locate their high school. The CEEB code determines the path for recommendations and school document submission. Unless a school is located abroad or was created within the last 6 months, they will be listed in this system.
For homeschool students, applicants can manually enter the name of their homeschool program or association.
Selecting the correct high school is key to ensuring that the correct path is followed for recommendation submissions. Schools that are using Naviance eDcos need to have the correct CEEB code linked with their application account.
Some students have attended multiple high schools during their academic career. Applicants can add up to 3 additional high schools that they have attended during high school. If a students needs to add more than three high schools, the information can be added to the “Additional Information” screen.
Community Based Organizations are those organizations that assist students in the college admissions and application process at no cost to the student. Examples of a community based organization are: College Horizons, Boys & Girls Club, Gear Up, Prep for Prep.
Students can add the name and counselor for up to three such organizations. If a student’s organization is not listed, it can be added manually.
Colleges want to know about the organizations around the country that are assisting students – organizations that are helping students access opportunities for post secondary education.
Educational Interruption Section
What does that even mean? Colleges are asking if you have an educational path that is delayed, interrupted or different from the traditional grades 9 – 12 in four years. Some students might finish early, while other students might need an additional year to complete high school. Some students decide to take a year off after high school but before beginning college to travel, work, volunteer or just rest. Some students have moved from one high school to another during the four years of high school. These things are not negative or positive but they need to be shared with the college admissions office.
The explanation does not need to be extensive, although the following points should be covered:
What caused the interruption(s)?
How has the interruption affected you and your academic progression?
Is there anything else you would like to note about the interruption(s)?
“Yes, even if you’ve moved – and your explanation can be as simple as ‘My family moved.”
Colleges & Universities Section
This is the space that allows applicants to add if they have taken college courses while in high school. They are not looking for AP or IB courses as those are included in a different section.
Courses might be online, on a college campus or on the high school campus.
Students can add up to three colleges where they took classes. Any additional colleges can be added to the “Additional Information” section of the Common Application.
Many colleges want the official transcript sent before credit can be granted to the student.
Similar to your high school lookup, you will be able to search and find your college. List the course details, the time that you attended this course or courses, and any degrees you earned.
Most students will select “0” for this question, and that’s okay.
Grades
You might be wondering, why do I need to provide information about my grades when I know that my counselor is going to send a transcript?
While reviewing an application, an admissions counselor is going to see your application before the transcript. It helps to provide the counselor with some additional information and helps to serve as double-check regarding the correctness of the supplemental documents. For example, if an applicant writes that they are number 1 in the class with a 4.0 GPA, but the transcript has something very different, there could have been a data error at the high school. This allows for follow-up to ensure that a student has the correct information reviewed.
Note that there is just a single required question on this tab… “graduating class size”. Your College counselor can assist with specifics. You should report your current Class Rank and GPA, even if they might change later in the school year. If your school does not rank, select "None" from the drop down menu. If your school calculates both weighted and unweighted Class Rank/GPA, report the weighted value. If your school does not calculate a cumulative numerical GPA, or if it uses a GPA scale that is different than the options available in the drop down menu, leave the Cumulative GPA field blank. This field is not required for submission of your application.
Current or Most Recent year Courses
Students can add up to 7 courses in this section. If an applicant has more than 7 courses to list, they can be added to the “Additional Information” section.
Current year courses
If a course has a level designation that is not included in the choice list, please include the level as part of the Course title (e.g. College Prep)
Honors Section
Applicants and Recommenders are often confused by this section. Are colleges looking for courses designated with an Honors code? No. Colleges and Universities are looking for academic distinctions – awards that are given to students based on their academic achievement.
Applicants are limited to 5 – so list the ones that are the most meaningful to you.
Future Plans Section
While we don’t expect you to know exactly what you want to do for the rest of your life, colleges would like to know what you are considering for your future.
Applicants can select from a long list of possible careers and seven (7) different degrees plus Other is an option.
Other and Undecided are options for the Career Interest question.
Highest degree: Enter the highest degree you intend to earn in your lifetime.
Information about the Applicant Solutions Center
You now have the information you need in order to work on your Education section. Remember, we’re always ready to help you. If you experience a problem or have a question, let us know by going to the Applicant Help Center and searching the FAQs or
clicking the Ask a Question tab. It’s probably a good idea to add ‘appsupport@commonap.org’ to your address book or contact list. We know you’ll have questions, and we are here to answer them. Help us make sure our responses don’t end up in your Spam or Junk folder by adding our support email address to your contact list.