The Common App is open!
The Common App has officially opened for Fall 2025 applications. If you're planning to apply to colleges during this coming academic year, it's not too early to create an account on Common App and begin working on your application. Here are some of my thoughts about filling out the Common App:
The Activities section allows you to add up to ten activities that you took part in during high school. List the activities in order of importance to you. You can move the order around using the up and down arrows to the right of each activity name. You don’t need to fill up all ten lines. Quality is more important than quantity. Estimate as accurately as possible when filling out the yearly and weekly time commitments. Be sure to look through the drop-down menu of activity type to see the wide range of activities that can be listed.
Use strong verbs in your activities section. In short: are you describing your activity in the most dynamic way possible? Most students aren’t. Why? Because they’re using just-okay verbs. You have a limited number of characters to describe each activity. Choose them wisely.
Have you included a wide range of responsibilities? Many students forget to include activities in which they solved problems, gained skills, and made tangible (and even quantifiable) impact in their communities.
Demonstrate skills and values. Are you communicating what you learned or how an activity changed you? If not, you may be missing an opportunity to show colleges an important aspect of your values and character.
The AXS Companion was designed by professional educational consultants to be used side-by-side with the Common App as students work on their applications. Each section includes explanatory videos, a glossary of application terms, and links to resources mentioned in the videos. It’s pitched to all students, but I think it will be especially valuable for students who cannot afford to work with an independent educational consultant (IEC) like me.
As your IEC, I can help you with all this and much more. I also provide detailed feedback on multiple drafts of your personal statement and supplemental essays, which I will cover in a later post.
