The Common Application is an undergraduate college admission

College admissions in the United States

College admissions in the United States refers to the annual process of applying to institutions of higher education in the United States for undergraduate study. This usually takes place during the senior year of high school...

 application

College application

-United States:A college application is part of the competitive college admissions system. Admissions departments usually require students to complete an application for admission that generally consists of academic records, personal essays , letters of recommendation, and a list of extracurricular...

 that applicants may use to apply to any of 456 member colleges and universities in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and various other countries. It is managed by the staff of a not-for-profit membership association (The Common Application, Inc.) and governed by a 13-member volunteer Board of Directors drawn from the ranks of college admission deans and secondary school college guidance counselors. Its mission is to encourage the use of "holistic admission" a process that includes subjective factors gleaned from essays and recommendations alongside more objective criteria such as class rank and standardized testing.

Member institutions may also require a "Common App Supplement," and ask additional questions, with only two restrictions: 1) supplement questions may not re-ask questions already asked on the Common Application (except identifying information like name, address, date of birth, etc.), and 2) supplement questions may not ask questions that violate the NACAC

National Association for College Admission Counseling

The National Association for College Admission Counseling , founded in 1937, is an organization of more than 11,000 professionals from around the world dedicated to serving students transitioning from secondary to postsecondary education, including professional school counselors, college access...

 Statement of Principles and Good Practice (such as "please rank order your college choices.").

The Online Application System

There is a Common Application for First-Year Admission and a Common Application for Transfer Admission. Both versions allow the application to be filled out once online and submitted to all schools with the same information going to each. Once the application is submitted to a college online, it cannot be changed for that college; the student must contact the college directly if they wish to correct an error or provide more information. The online system also allows the student to submit and track other components of their application such as supplements, payments, and school forms.

Membership

Of the Common Application as their only admissions application online or in print (listed here). If the member has a separate proprietary application, they are required to give equal consideration to applicants using either form as a condition of membership.