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Most Common App mistakes are not in the essay. They are a wrong graduation date, an activity cut off mid-sentence, a supplement pasted into the wrong college or a recommender who was never invited. Once an application is submitted to a college, that copy cannot be changed, so ten careful minutes now are worth it.
Work through this checklist the day before you submit, not the hour before.
Profile, family and education
- Your name matches your school records and test registrations exactly.
- Your email is one you check daily and will keep after graduation. Colleges send portal logins and interview requests there.
- School, graduation date and counselor details are correct, so your counselor's documents match your application.
- Courses and grades, if a college asks you to self-report them, match your transcript line by line.
- Test scores are entered only where you want them sent. Check each college's testing policy; some require scores again, others are test-optional.
Activities and honors
- Your most important activities come first. Readers do not always get to number ten.
- No description is cut off: the limit is 150 characters, and the box stops you mid-word.
- Hours per week and weeks per year are realistic and add up to a believable week.
- Honors are listed with the level (school, state, national) and the grade you received them in.
The personal essay
- It is between 250 and 650 words.
- It answers the prompt you selected.
- You have read it aloud at least once from start to finish.
- The formatting survived the paste: paragraph breaks are there and no strange characters appeared.
- It contains no college names, since every college receives the same essay.
Supplements and college questions
- Each why-us essay names the right college. Read the first and last sentence of every one.
- Every answer is within its word or character limit.
- Required short answers are not left blank; optional ones are answered if you have something real to say.
- The application plan (ED, EA, RD) is the one you mean, especially for binding early decision.
- Major and program choices are correct for each college.
Recommenders and the FERPA release
- Your counselor and teachers are invited in the Common App and have confirmed they will submit.
- You have completed the FERPA release. Most counselors advise waiving your right to see recommendations, because colleges tend to trust waived letters more.
- Recommenders know your earliest deadline. A polite reminder a week before is normal.
Fees, preview and submission
- 1Pay the application fee or confirm your fee waiver for each college.
- 2Open the PDF preview the Common App shows at the review step and read every page, not just the essay.
- 3Submit at least a day before the deadline. Portals slow down on deadline nights.
- 4Save the confirmation and watch your email for each college's applicant portal login.
- 5Once the portal is live, check that your transcript, recommendations and scores have arrived.
Questions
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