but for now, we’ll focus on the short answer side of the application.

The short-answer portion of the Common App® is divided into five separate sections, the first of which is the Profile section. None of the questions in this first section should be too difficult to answer, as they are basic inquiries into information such as your name, address, e-mail, and phone number, as well as various questions about your personal demographics.  It should be noted that colleges will not be able to look into the demographics section of your profile when receiving your application, and that the information will only be used for tracking the demographic data of entire schools, after the students within said schools have already been accepted. Additionally, the profile section will ask if you’re eligible to receive a fee waiver on your application, a useful tool that will reduce the cost of sending applications.  If you meet any of the criteria listed on the Common App®, then you are eligible to receive a fee waiver.

 The next part of the Common App is the Family section, which will likely take a bit more time to fill out.  Completing the Family section may require you to sit with your parents and ask them about their education.  The Common App® includes a series of questions about where each of your parents work, if or where and what they studied, and how to contact them.  Similar to the demographics question, part of the reason why colleges ask these questions is to create an understanding of how many of their students are first-generation college-goers, meaning that they’re a person who’s attending college whose parents did not.  The Common App® will also ask about any siblings you may have, but their inquiry into them is kept much shorter than that for your parents.

The Education section of the Common App® is up next, and it’s one of the most expansive, as well as one where an important reminder is due.  This reminder, which cannot be ignored, is that you must tell the truth on your college application.  It may be tempting to exaggerate with some of the details to make yourself look slightly better.  However, you should know that colleges tend to be able to find out when you’ve stretched the truth and share this information with other colleges and universities.  For example, one question you must be honest about is your GPA; you may choose to write either your weighted or unweighted score.  Personally, I’d suggest writing your weighted score, as colleges will receive your unweighted grades either way.  This section also includes a place for you to write about all the honors and awards you’ve received as a student.  Here you can write AP Scholar awards, inductions into various honors societies, national merit achievements, and even any commendation awarded to you by your own school.  You should be aware that when writing the list, however, you can only include five honors, so make sure to write what you think will matter the most.  At the end of the Education section, the Common App will ask you what your plans are for the future in college and career.  You should answer these questions with honesty, but unlike questions of grades or awards, the questions about your future are in no way binding, and colleges understand your plans may change.

The following section, the Testing section, is assuredly the shortest, as it only consists of a single yes-or-no question, that being if you intend to send additional test scores to the colleges you wish to apply to.  Most colleges will have you send them an SAT and/or ACT test score, but this occurs at the basis of individual schools and is not included on the Common App.  If you’ve taken one of the additional standardized tests listed on the Testing section, it’s a good idea to send in your scores, regardless of your scores.  For what it’s worth, a student who sends in a low score will not be treated worse than a student who sends in no score. If you haven’t taken any of the additional standardized tests listed, you really shouldn’t worry too much, as colleges tend to devote most of their attention to the SATs and ACTs.  We’ll talk more about these two tests in a future article.

 The final of the short-answer sections is the Activity section, which is also the most open-ended of the sections, save for the essay.  All you have to do in this section is list all of the activities you’ve participated in outside of school hours.  It may seem like a simple task at first, but you may not realize exactly how many productive things you’ve been doing.  You have to be sure to list everything, as colleges love to see a well-rounded student who can balance their academics with sports, clubs, jobs, and volunteer work.  It is also once again important to remind yourself that colleges can tell if you’re exaggerating.  For example, it’s not a good idea to say that you worked with a charity if you didn’t, or not as much as you said you did.  You can end up in serious trouble, and the rest of your potentially stellar application can be compromised.  Additionally, the Common App® will ask if you intend to continue each of your various activities as a college student.  Like before, this question is non-binding, and it’s generally safer to say that you would like to continue each activity.

 Ultimately, my primary advice for when you fill out the Common App® is to do everything you can to paint yourself in a positive light, so long as you’re not painting over reality.

Please feel free to share your own experiences in the comment box below.

Your shared thoughts may help someone else going through a similar experience.  Thank you.