C A 4 : F I RS T LO O K
M AY 2 0 1 3
S C OT T A N D E RS O N
T I M M C G R AW
This slide will advance when the presentation begins. Previous workshop
participants have observed that headphones can improve sound quality.
Housekeeping
• The workshop has started. If you cannot hear the
presenters through your computer speakers, you can
listen via teleconference. Call-in information is included
in the event confirmation and reminders.
• If audio is distorted, please consider using headphones.
• This presentation is being recorded.
• Follow on Twitter at #CA4FirstLook
Asking Questions
The Q&A box appears
in the lower right hand
corner of your screen.
Click the triangle so it
points down. This will
open the Q&A dialog
so you can type your
questions. Please
direct questions to All
Panelists.
Concepts to Cover
• Design Goal and Priorities
• Application Sections
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Family
Education
Testing
Activities
Essay
• Dashboard
• My Colleges
#CA4FirstLook
Design Goal
Simplify the complex and daunting task of applying to any
of our 520+ members so that, at any point in time, a 17year-old first-time user will quickly, easily, and intuitively
understand—simultaneously—how to complete the
smallest task and how to navigate the entire application
process for multiple member colleges within the Common
Application.
#CA4FirstLook
Balance
Clean
Informative
#CA4FirstLook
Balance
Guided
Exploratory
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Balance
Macro
Micro
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Balance
Custom
Common
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Balance
Many
One
#CA4FirstLook
Single landing page for all users
Home of all support resources
Live social media feeds
Application Sections
• Common Application
– Common Questions asked by all members
• Dashboard
– Status overview for all colleges
• My Colleges
– Page where students take action for specific colleges
Tabs help students navigate through the application to complete various tasks.
Left navigation menu displays main pages within the Common App.
Each page contains several sections but displays only one at a time.
Help Center displays articles relevant only to the task at hand.
Smart, dynamic questions – Example below shows display for married parents.
Changing marital status to “Divorced” prompts new questions.
New school lookup makes finding a high school much easier.
As the student begins to type the name…
…the list of options appears and shrinks
rapidly as more letters are typed in.
Student can choose to sort the list by school
name or by home address.
Accurate address and CEEB
information will automatically
populate in the School section
of the Education page.
If the school can’t be found…
…the student can enter the information manually.
A similar process exists for Home Schooled students.
Testing page is driven by what a student wishes to report.
Testing page is driven by what a student wishes to report.
Testing page is driven by what a student wishes to report.
Test Optional/Flexible Colleges
• Once an application is submitted, a student can return to the
app and edit it for future submissions to other colleges.
• Student can return to the testing page and change testing
response to “No, I do not wish to self-report” OR keep the
response as “Yes” but elect to report a different set of tests.
• Answering “No” or electing to report a different set of tests will
hide – but not erase – any tests a student may have entered
previously.
• Any tests/scores entered into a previously submitted application
can be retrieved by changing the testing response back to
“Yes.”
Activities page remains largely unchanged.
Activity type uses the same picklist as today’s application.
The Activity name picklist appears if a student selects Athletics as Activity type.
Up and down arrows let students
rearrange the order of their
activities, just like today.
50 character text field
150 character text field
Activity type and Activity name do
not count against the character
count since they are derived from
picklists, not free text.
50 character text field
150 character text field
Essay Changes
• New prompts
• New instructions
• Text entry or cutand-paste replaces
uploads
• Maximum 650 word
count is enforced
The application displays a word count.
Students receive an error message if the essay is too short…
…or too long.
If cutting/pasting, the text box will accommodate the full
amount of text even if it exceeds the word count.
Dashboard displays an overview of the
application status for each college on a student’s list.
Clicking the triangle next to a college’s name expands the
view to show the status in greater detail.
My Colleges is where students go to take action on
tasks specific to each college.
Each college gets to select the questions it asks…
…as well as the responses a student can provide.
The Writing Supplement allows each college to ask short
answer and essay questions. Responses can be either text
entry or upload—or both—depending on the college’s
preference.
Note that while a college’s specific questions are submitted
along with the Common Application…
…the Writing Supplement is submitted afterward.
www.commonapp.org