Common Application Tip Sheet 2015-2016
www.commonapp.org
Create an Account
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Use a professional email address (yourname@gmail.com or similar)
Create a password: Length between 8 and 16 characters
o At least one upper case alphabetic character
o At least one lower case alphabetic character
o At least one numeric character
o At least one of the following characters: ! @ # $ % ^ & *
o No space characters
o EXAMPLE: Abc123!*
Save the email address and password in a document or on your phone, so you will be able to find
them in the future
When creating your account, list your full legal name, not your nickname
o You will have a chance to list your preferred name later
Once you have created an account, you will receive an email with your Common Application ID.
Save this Application ID number in your document or on your phone!
COMMON APP TAB
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To start your application, click on the “Common Application” tab.
Profile
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Contact Details – preferred phone – think about whether to list cell #, but know that colleges may
then consider this opting into receiving texts
Language - # of languages you are proficient in - intent is to understand what you speak at home
or if you have another native language; if your world language studies at school have gotten you to
a level of proficiency/fluency it is fine to list that as well
Common App Fee Waiver – discuss this individually with your college counselor if you feel that
your financial circumstances might qualify you for an application fee waiver.
Family
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You will be asked for your parents’ information including:
o Mother’s maiden name
o Parent(s)’ email address(es), occupation, educational information, college or university,
degree(s), and year(s)
o Sibling(s) ages, college or university, degree(s), and year(s)
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Common Application Tip Sheet 2015-2016
www.commonapp.org
Education
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School
o Date of entry – when you started Upper School – August 2012 if you’ve been at Hutch
since 9th grade
o Graduation date – May 16, 2016
o Counselor contact information:
 Sherry Blumberg, College Counseling Director, sblumberg@hutchisonschool.org
 Lauren Colpitts, College Counselor, lcolpitts@hutchisonschool.org
 Caroline Willson, College Counselor, cwillson@hutchisonschool.org
 Phone number for all – 901-762-6662
Other School – list any other high schools that you attended if you came to Hutch after 9th grade
Colleges and Universities – you may indicate summer academic work if you completed
college/university courses, including summer programs for college credit and Governor’s Schools –
colleges then may ask you to submit a transcript
Grades
o Class rank – none
o Class size – 66
o Cumulative GPA -- found on your unofficial transcript or in Naviance
o GPA scale – 4.0
o GPA weighting – weighted
Current Year Courses
o Enter full name of the course – Honors, Advanced Honors, etc. It is fine to abbreviate AP
o For Heritage—list either Advanced Honors English IV or AP English Literature and
Composition
o We suggest checking “Accelerated” for Advance Honors classes
Honors
o Include academic awards, honor societies, book awards, language fair awards, AP Scholar
designations, etc.
Testing
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“In addition to sending official score reports as required by colleges, do you wish to self-report
scores or future test dates for any of the following standardized tests: ACT, SAT/SAT Subject, AP,
IB, TOEFL, PTE Academic, and IELTS?” –
o YES List your best scores as well as dates of any upcoming tests that you are registered for;
if you feel like you need to discuss further, speak with your college counselor.
Your scores can be found in Naviance
Composite Score is highest composite from one test date
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Common Application Tip Sheet 2015-2016
www.commonapp.org
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Test dates from 2014-2015, as well as upcoming test dates for 2015-2016, are listed below:
o 2014-15 SAT dates: Oct. 11, 2014; Nov. 8, 2014; Dec. 6, 2014; Jan. 24, 2015; March 14,
2015; May 2, 2015; June 6, 2015
o 2015-16 SAT dates: Oct. 3, 2015; Nov. 7, 2015; Dec. 5, 2015; Jan. 23, 2016; March 5,
2016; May 7, 2016; June 4, 2016
o 2014-15 ACT dates: Sept. 13, 2014; Oct. 25, 2014; Dec. 13, 2014; Feb. 7, 2015; April 18,
2015; June 13, 2015
o 2015-16 ACT dates: Sept. 12, 2015; Oct. 24, 2015; Dec. 12, 2015; Feb. 6, 2016; April 9,
2016; June 11, 2016
AP Scores – report only past AP exams on which you scored a 4 or 5; list any AP subjects you’re
enrolled in as a senior as “tests you expect to take” in May 2016
SAT Subject Tests – look at your score report, list only tests on which you scored above the 75th
percentile
Activities
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“Reporting activities can help a college better understand your life outside of the classroom. Your
activities may include arts, athletics, clubs, employment, personal commitments, and other
pursuits. Do you have any activities that you wish to report?” – YES
Use your updated resume to complete this section
“Position/Leadership description and organization name, if applicable”- be sure to include your
position AND the name of the organization here.
o “Global Ambassadors, Steering Committee member”
o “Rogers Scholars member”
o “Athletic Council, sophomore representative”
Check “12” for activities you plan to participate in as a senior
The school year is 36 weeks; summer break is 12 weeks
Hours per weeks should be for an average week
Writing
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Essay
o Essay must be on one of the Common Application topics. Please work closely with your
college counselor to select your topic and for feedback as you revise essay drafts.
o Your essay may be no more than 650 words.
o Write essay in Word before copying and pasting into Common Application. You cannot
upload a Word Document.
o Text box will count words, check spelling, and retain simple formatting. You will not be
able to indent your paragraphs.
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Common Application Tip Sheet 2015-2016
www.commonapp.org
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Disciplinary History
o Girls should follow Hutchison policy for reporting disciplinary issues.
o If you think you should check “yes” in response to one of these questions, talk to your
college counselor before doing so.
Additional Information
o If you feel that you have additional information that needs to be included, please talk with
your college counselor.
 This could include family issues, learning differences, extended illness, etc.
 This section is truly optional and most applicants leave it blank.
MY COLLEGES TAB
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In order to add schools under your “My Colleges” tab, search for each school using the “College
Search” tab.
To find information about each school’s requirements and deadlines, click on the “My Colleges”
tab.
If a school asks to which other schools you are applying, we recommend that you leave this blank.
Here you will also find supplemental questions for many schools.
o Many of these will be short answer questions
 Be sure to give the short answer responses the same level of care and revision that
you would a full length essay. Please work with your college counselor on these
responses.
o Some will require additional full length essays
Be sure to add all of your Common Application schools to your My Colleges list so that you won’t
be surprised by additional essays or short answers right before the deadline.
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