2017 Harvard Summer Institute Janet Rapelye Princeton University Common Application Board of Directors 2017 Harvard Summer Institute

Goals Who We Are Who We Serve What We Do The goal for this presentation today is to help you understand more about the Common Application organization, the constituents that we work with and the initiatives that are currently in the works. And of course, we are happy to take any questions you have about the content we talk about today at the end of the presentation! Who We Serve What We Do

WHO WE ARE

The Common Application is a not-for-profit membership organization committed to the pursuit of access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process. Also a good place to mention our longevity and history of service to the education community (founded 1975 with 15 liberal arts colleges)

WHO WE SERVE

33 International Universities 48 States & DC 11 HBCUs 33 International Universities 250+ Test-optional 130 Public Universities 275+ No Application Fee

NEW MEMBERS FOR 2017-2018 Public Institutions Appalachian State University (NC) East Carolina University (NC) Kent State University University of Arizona University of Houston (TX) University of Missouri System University of Nevada – Las Vegas University of Northern Colorado University of Oregon University of Wyoming Western Michigan University Others to be announced shortly 47…and counting 21 public, 6 international Our 49th state: Wyoming Updated list coming this summer

43 Minority Serving Institutions THE 2017-2018 MEMBERSHIP 17 Countries Outside US 54 International Members 49 States Plus DC and PR 140 Domestic Publics (20%) 749 Members 43 Minority Serving Institutions

4.8 Avg. Apps Submitted Per Applicant 2016-2017 BY THE NUMBERS 4.5M Applications Submitted (+9%) 22M Recommendation Forms Submitted 405K Rollover Accounts 998,000 Unique Applicants (+7%) 1.9M Applicant Profiles Created 4.8 Avg. Apps Submitted Per Applicant

33% First–Generation Students 36% Students of Color

Countries and Territories Worldwide Reach 210 Countries and Territories 89.5% U.S. 10.5% International China accounts for approximately 35% of international applicants

WHAT WE DO

We provide a free, reliable application with 24/7 support for everyone. We connect students with a wide range of opportunities. We provide tools and resources to students and the people who support them.

commonapp.org We provide a free reliable application service with 24/7 support for everyone.

COMMITTED TO CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT commonapp.org Member Suggestions The Common Application relies heavily on critical feedback we receive from our users to make improvements to our application system and enhance the tools and resources we offer. We strive to consider feedback from every constituent group. Applicant & Recommender Surveys Advisory Committees Counselor Focus Groups Service & Support Input Student Focus Groups

2017-2018 ESSAY PROMPTS commonapp.org Respondents Who Said Current Prompts Are Effective 5,000 Respondents to Survey Changes to the essay prompts reflect over 5,000 responses to our recent survey Students represented 59% of respondents 91% of members of 90% of constituent respondents agree or strongly agree that last year’s prompts were effective Two New Essay Prompts developed in close consultation with counselors on Outreach Committee Updated prompts provide expanded opportunity for students to express themselves Highlight 6th prompt & topic of your choice New resources coming to help students understand opportunities presented by essay prompts Another enhancement that originally grew out of constituent feedback two years ago, is account rollover 90% New Prompts in 2017-2018 59% 2 Student Respondents

commonapp.org/rollover ACCOUNT ROLLOVER commonapp.org Any account created in 2016-2017 can carry over to 2017-2018 and beyond. Feedback about the process has been great so far, and counselors and students seem to be very pleased with the process Allows students to take some of the pressure off; students are start including information in their Common App on their schedule, at their pace, and when they are ready. Allows counselors and families to start working in the app in the spring of the junior year Learn more about the process at commonapp.org/rollover Another enhancement we launched two years ago is Common App OnTrack User name and password remain the same What rolls over? Any answers to questions within the Common App tab: Profile Family Education Testing Activities Writing commonapp.org/rollover

COMMON APP ONTRACK Mobile companion to Common App account commonapp.org Mobile companion to Common App account The mobile app, Common App onTrack, is designed to help students keep track of their application deadlines Students can: View list of colleges on Common App accounts See college submission status Add and remove colleges Set reminders to help stay on top of admissions requirements and deadlines Invite and manage recommenders Launched in November 2015, now in its second version Available on both Android and Apple devices **Who has Common App OnTrack on their phones already? If you don’t, take a minute after the presentation to take a look! It works with Practice Accounts! -Looking forward to enhancements for next year Student-centered design Add and research colleges, track deadlines and submissions, track and invite recommenders, set reminders, and more Available in iTunes and Google Play stores

KEY ENHANCEMENTS FOR 2017 Recommender & CBO Enhancements commonapp.org 1 Recommender & CBO Enhancements 2 Spanish Language Resources 3 Google Drive Document Upload 4 New Transfer Application (Winter 2018) 5 Courses & Grades

COURSES & GRADES commonapp.org The new Courses & Grade section will allow many students to self-report their high school academic records as part of their Common App. Member colleges can opt to use self-reported transcript information in admissions and enrollment management processes.

We connect students with a wide range of opportunities. commonapp.org We connect students with a wide range of opportunities.

ADVANCING ACCESS commonapp.org

ADVANCING ACCESS commonapp.org 170K 95K 450K 1M 100K

commonapp.org We provide tools and resources to students and the people who support them.

Encourage you to visit our refreshed website. A newly refreshed, content-rich commonapp.org uses the organizing concepts of: learn, explore, grow, focus, apply. This will help guide students along the path of college readiness. Will help them learn how to plan, how to pay for, and why every student should consider going to college. Our enhanced Explore Colleges section now has the ability to search by state, as well as region, through our interactive map. More than a portal to the application itself Goal to build a website that would provide info students need to apply to Encourage you to sign up for the counselor newsletter!

9th Grade 10th Grade 11th Grade 12th Grade Organizing concepts of: learn, explore, grow, focus, apply. Looking to help guide students along the path of college readiness, a process that can begin as early as middle school Early school counseling points to building a college going culture, our resources are aimed at supporting that with grade appropriate content Middle School 9th Grade 10th Grade 11th Grade 12th Grade LEARN Absorb knowledge, develop skills and study habits EXPLORE Explore opportunities, challenge yourself, try something new GROW Strengthen skills and maintain involvement in activities FOCUS Focus on grades, entrance exams, college search, and yourself APPLY Apply your knowledge, apply to colleges and scholarships

COMMON APP READY commonapp.org/ready Comprehensive training resources covering every aspect of the application Varied formats to meet different needs Complement to Solutions Center Common App Ready arms teachers, parents, and counselors with the most up-to-date tools and resources they need to guide students along the path to college. These resources are ideal for presenting at college prep workshops with students and parents. commonapp.org/ready

Virtual Counselor is an online resource library of college counseling videos and articles submitted by counselors for students and parents. Contributors to the Virtual Counselor include knowledgeable school counselors, teachers, admission officers and college educators. Designed to provide advisement for students who may not have access to counselors at their schools or in their community. We want all students to feel supported throughout the college preparation and application process. Topics in our Virtual Counselor library include: Finding your fit when searching for colleges Financial aid Advice for First Generation students Note: “The Common Application is always looking for contributors to the Virtual Counselor. You can find out more information by visiting the Virtual Counselor website or see one of us after the presentation.” You can either collect the person’s contact information or invite them to email Jen Davis at jdavis@commonapp.org

TRAINING VIDEOS Students can get the help they need using training videos found directly in the Common App account. We also added inline training videos within the app this year so students wouldn’t have to leave the app to watch a how-to video Works on mobile too Check out the YouTube channel for all our videos

SOLUTIONS CENTER RECOMMENDER SUPPORT APPLICANT SUPPORT recsupport.commonapp.org Chat: 10am-8pm EST, Monday-Friday (October-February) Email: sfsupport@commonapp.net Schedule a Call: 10am-6pm EST, Monday-Friday (October-February) Solutions Center is staffed with real live people 24/7/365 APPLICANT SUPPORT appsupport.commonapp.org Chat: 10am-8pm EST, Monday-Friday (October-February) Email: appsupport@commonapp.net

CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION commonapp.org CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION “Our social media channels provide yet another active source for support and additional resources” Plug YouTube channel again @CommonApp @CommonApp @CommonApp CommonAppMedia

Q & A

Common App is the one - here's why Thank you!