Start strong: Common App tools and resources for counselors, students and families

We hope you are staying safe as the new school year begins. To help you prepare, we’ve compiled a catalog of resources you can use to guide students through their college applications. Here are five key resources to kick off the academic year on the right foot.

Resources for counselors

New Common App recommender system features. Earlier this month, Common App rolled out a series of key enhancements to the recommender system, including application preview, enhanced role management, and more.

Common App Ready. Our signature counselor planning tool, Common App Ready helps you walk your students through all the critical steps of the college application. Resources are available in English and Spanish.

Student and family resources

Family resources. Families play a critical role in helping students navigate their college applications. Common App has developed resources dedicated to helping families plan ahead. You’ll find recommended timelines, checklists, and fast facts about financial aid.

Writing resources. The college essay allows students to tell colleges and universities their unique story. Here are several resources to help students craft the narrative sections of the application.

• COVID-19 question. The COVID-19 question on the Common App is designed to give students who need it a dedicated space on the application to discuss the personal and academic impact of the pandemic.
• Addressing social injustice. Students are encouraged to describe their personal experiences with racism and social injustice. Scott Anderson, Senior Director at Common App, offers his thoughts to students on the importance of sharing these experiences.
• How to approach the essay. A new resource, Telling your story, helps students ask critical questions of themselves as they write their college essay.
• Coming soon: writing requirements resource. The updated writing requirements resource, found in our Solutions Center, will outline all required and optional questions for each college.

Explore Colleges. This is a great time for students to get familiar with the qualities that are most important to them in a college or university. Students can explore the unique attributes each campus has to offer using Common App’s Explore Colleges tool, as well as the filter functionality in the College Search tab of the application. We hope you’ll encourage students to check out the newest members of Common App this year as well!

As always, our Solutions Center team is here to help you and your students 24/7/365.