Ever heard of the Common App? Spread across around 20 countries around the world, and having an understanding with nearly 800 Universities of repute the Common App, a not-for-profit membership organization, is getting an update! 

The Update is releasing in the academic year 2019-20 (tentative date in July) with even more features than before. This is the result of several critical feedback given by students who have tried, tested and successfully made use of the previous version of the Common App. 

Here’s what you need to know:

1. The app is designed so that an applying student is able to present an honest and true account of his or her personal story in a way which is desired by the top Universities. The updated version of the app seeks to make this process smoother for the students, and the newly developed flexible interface plays a big part in making the app more user-friendly. 

2. Moreover, the Common App features essay prompts which provides a list of general topics that are created so that essentialities about your personalities and identities will be revealed to the Universities you apply in (provided they require you to submit essays). You can learn about the essay prompt feature of the Common App by seeing examples here. In fact, this is one of the things that has been left alone for the purposes of the update. 

3. The activities section is being tweaked to accommodate the personal narratives of the students in a more unique fashion. 

4. You can expect changes to the criminal history question this time.

5. An extremely efficient partnership with companies like BridgeU, Cialfo, FolderWave, MaiaLearning, Naviance, and Parchment will ensure better counselor performance. 

6. Besides a refreshingly changed interface providing a unique feel, the updated app will feature a lot of new and helpful options especially designed to facilitate both student and parent comfort while going through the grueling process of filling college applications. Some of these features include improved search, ease of navigating through the application guides provided for the transfer applicants and the first years, an upgraded version of the toolkit that is the Common App Ready, improved access to the College roadmap, increased mobile compatibility, among others. 

7. The new version of the app will also be much easier to use for the specially-abled persons. 

8. The new app will also bring with it member-specific waiver options for transfer students, an easily operable platform for transcript requests, provision for editing the application after submission, easier coursework entries, specifically assigned URLs, etc.

Note: Not all Universities accept applications through the Common App. Some only allow applications through the school/official websites.

You can check out all this information in a concise format through this webinar.