Step-by-Step Guide to Completing the Common App
This is your step-by-step, section-by-section guide to completing the Common App! Below you’ll find instructional videos that will guide you through each section of the third “tab” in the Common Application – which is the heart of the application itself.
We hope these short videos will answer your questions about each section of the Common App! The videos below discuss each individual section. Here’s our YouTube playlist with all of the Common App videos described below!
Completing the Common App – Profile Section
In this 6-minute video, we review how to fill out the Profile section of the Common Application. This section requests basic information about where you live, what languages you speak, your citizenship and a few other details.
Completing the Common App – Family Section
We cover filling out the Family section in under three minutes! You’ll need to enter information about your mom and dad – including where they att...more
Why You Shouldn't Apply to all Eight Ivy League Schools
Many people mistakenly believe that applying to a larger number of “reach” or top-tier schools increases the chances of being admitted to one. There are two big reasons why this belief not only is wrong, but jeopardizes students’ chances of admission to even one of the top schools on their lists.
Reason #1 Why You Shouldn’t Apply to All 8 Ivies
The first reason you shouldn’t apply to all 8 Ivy League schools, or limit your list to the top of the US News list, is that they are different in fundamental ways! If you love and fit at Columbia, then Brown would probably not be a great match for you! If you think Duke or Johns Hopkins would be perfect for you, it’s unlikely you’d fit well at Yale. And if you aren’t a good fit, that’s probably going to come through in your essays – or at least other applicants’ essays are likely to be stronger than yours. Top-tier colleges aren’t interested in students who are only interested in their top ranking, and the bumper...more
Need a Job after College? A Career Center Adviser or IEC can help!
Four years of college can fly before a student realizes it. By junior and senior year, that fateful question becomes ever prominent: what will I do after college?
For most students, taking the time to work closely with the career center adviser on campus can make this prospect less daunting. Students should visit their career center and connect with an adviser at least by January of their freshman year. This is an invaluable step to gain assistance in finding summer internships, employment and even advice on working or studying abroad. All these steps strengthen the resume and help students learn more about professions for consideration. Working with an adviser early and consistently each year of college builds a relationship that will pay off with big dividends by senior year, when assistance with the job search is most critical.
If for whatever reason a student does not make those connections, and finds him or herself needing help and...more
