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Simply begin thinking about the application process early on - it takes a lot of time to polish and perfect!...
Meet Yanpei Zhang
at University of Pennsylvania
(2010 - 2014)
Tips and Hints
Are you an international student applying to one of the 450+ US colleges and universities using the Common Application? Or do you advise a student who is?
As increasing numbers of international students use the Common Application, EducationUSA and the Common App have teamed up to provide a list of tips and hints for international students completing the forms, including a list of technical tips, terminology differences, general hints and tips and additional resources. You can also download our step-by-step student guide to completing the Common Application, as well as our step-by-step school's guide to completing the Common Application School Forms.
Technical Tips
- Remember to write the dates in the American format (mm/dd/yyyy).
- You may leave questions about “State/Province” blank if you live outside of the United States.
- For phone numbers, be sure to enter your country code and phone number with no spaces or dashes. If your country code is only two digits, please include a 0 at the beginning of the code.
- Please also make sure that you preview your application, as some text may not “fit” when it is converted to the PDF version the universities will print.
- Ninety percent of students submit their application materials online. If you have difficulty using the online forms, you and/or your school may submit the print versions available online. Note that the student can submit their forms online and the school in print format or vice versa. However, it is imperative that your full name is the same on all forms so that the admissions office can collate your materials upon receipt.
Terminology Differences
- The term “school” can be used to refer to all places of education, even postsecondary and postgraduate.
- American “High School” is equivalent to the last four years of secondary school, just prior to university entry. The terms “college” and “university” in American English both refer to places of postsecondary education.
- The American term “course” is equivalent to the terms “class” or “module” in other countries. For example, if you are asked to list your courses for the current academic year, you would list the individual subjects you are studying or classes you are taking.
- A US social security number is a number given to US citizens and residents, primarily for taxation purposes. If you do not have a social security number, you may leave these questions blank.
- A CEEB code is a specialised number that is used to identify schools. If your school does not have a CEEB code, a generic one will be provided for you by searching twice on the form and indicating that your school does not appear in the list. Alternatively, your school can apply for a CEEB code using the information provided on the College Board or ACT websites.
- The GED is a High School Equivalency exam. If you did not complete the equivalent of US high school in your home country and you plan to apply for a four-year bachelor's programme immediately, universities may require you to sit the GED exam. More information about this test is on the www.ets.com website.
- Graduating class size is the total number of students in your year group at school.
- Class rank is a measurement of how your marks or grades compare to other students in your year group at school. If your school does not rank students, you may leave these questions blank.
- GPA (Grade Point Average) is used by many American institutions. This number is calculated by averaging your class grades and number of classes being taken. If your school does not use GPA in their marking, you may leave these questions blank.
- AP, or advanced placement, classes offer high school students the opportunity to study subjects at the university-level and gain advanced standing. AP tests are not required for entry to US universities, and advanced standing may also be awarded if you selected a more rigorous high school curriculum than is standard in your home country. If you did not take AP classes or exams, you may leave these questions blank.
- For Graduation Date, enter the date you will receive a high school diploma (if you are in the US system) or the date you will receive your final marks for secondary school in your home country’s system (for example, the date you receive your A-level, IB, French Bac, Arbitur, etc. results).
- JV/Varsity means that it is a High School level sports team (not a professional or recreational team).
General Hints & Tips
- The application is available 1 August – 15 July. Students, parents and advisors are welcome to set-up an account to view the application, even if they are not applying in the current cycle. However, note that the application data saved in one cycle does not transfer over to the new cycle. So be sure to save any answers or essays in a separate file to copy and paste into the form in the year you actually apply.
- Choosing Universities: Keep in mind that while over 450 institutions use the Common Application, there are over 4,000 institutions offering undergraduate degrees in the United States. Therefore, we encourage students to make sure their university search process includes the full range of higher education institutions, including those using the Common Application.
- Number of Applications: There is no limit to the number of universities you can apply to in the US through the Common Application or otherwise. However, we recommend you focus on 4 -6 carefully selected universities including a mix of reach, match and safety/insurance universities.
- Supplements: Keep in mind that approximately two thirds of Common Application member universities will also ask you to submit supplements to the Common Application, some of which will include additional essay topics. The supplements will be unique for each individual university, and you may find it helpful to view a list of application requirements for each Common Application member institution. You may also wish to look at Harvard College's tips for completing their supplement.
- Please note that while there is a separate print document called the international supplement for schools to complete, you do not have to submit this separately if you are using the online form. These questions will be asked within the school report, once the school indicates that the student is taking a curriculum aside from the US high school diploma or IB.
- If the student has committed a significant portion of their time to arts or athletics and wishes to continue them at university level (ie attending a design school) they may fill out the arts supplement or the athletic supplement. Make sure to check the requirements for each university to ensure that they accept these forms. The forms can be submitted online or in print.
- Selecting School Representatives: Note that in the application you will choose two teachers and one guidance counsellor per college/university to support your application. Most students use the same three individuals for each university. While having two teacher references along with the counsellor representative is a good rule of thumb, a counsellor can be listed as a teacher if necessary. The student will need to enter the individual twice - once for each designation. The guidance counsellor will submit a school profile and comment on the students’ performance in a broader manner through the School/Final Reports.
- The two teachers you select will submit a more specific recommendation letter about your academic and extracurricular potential.
- Make sure to inform your school representatives in advance and that the email address you submit is correct. Login information for the forms will be sent out to them via email (you do not have to send the forms to them yourself), so it is vital that you have the correct information.
- Note that if you are completing a gap year, you may wish to submit information about this in the question under Education, asking if there have been any breaks in your education.
- Essay: The Common Application essay (not the essays for individual supplements) has a word limit of 250 – 500 words. Since this essay is uploaded as a document, the system cannot enforce the word limit. Nonetheless, students are expected to stay within the instructed word limits for their essay.
- Deadlines: These vary by university, but there is a general trend of 1 or 15 November for early deadlines and 1 or 15 January for regular deadlines.
Additional Resources
- If you have a question about the Common Application form, there are many resources on the Common Application website, including FAQs, recorded presentations and an inquiry service with average response times of less than an hour most times of the year.
- If you are having difficulty completing the online form, there are print versions of the application forms available on the Common Application website.
- Please note that the US universities and colleges you apply to will evaluate your application materials, not the Common Application. Therefore, if you have a question about what a particular university would like for you to submit, you may wish to contact the university’s admissions office directly.
- Finally, the EducationUSA / Fulbright UK office has created an unofficial guide to completing the student and school forms that you may wish to reference.