Explained
What is the Common App?
The Common Application (Common App) is the main centralised platform for applying to US universities — over 1,000 of them accept it. A student submits one core application (a 650-word personal essay, activities list, and transcript) plus school-specific supplements, to up to 20 colleges. It is the US equivalent of the UK's UCAS, but built around a personal narrative rather than a subject-focused statement.
The Common App essay answers 'who are you as a person?' — it should contain little academic content. This is the opposite of the UCAS statement, so a student applying to both the US and UK must write two genuinely different documents, not recycle one.
Regular Decision deadlines are typically 1 January; Early Action/Decision fall in November. US admissions are holistic — essays, recommendations, and demonstrated depth matter alongside grades, and international acceptance rates run low (2-6% at the most selective).
Reviewed by Priscilla Han. BrightKey is independent and takes no payment from schools or universities.
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