Will Colleges Bail on the Common App Organization?

I think this will be one of the big stories to watch, after the disaster of the Common Application roll-out of its new site last fall. Students, parents, and teachers were driven to weeks, if not months, of panic, anxiety, and unnecessary work because of technical problems with the site. As distressing as that was for those groups, few had much awareness of how difficult it was for the colleges and universities to deal with the problems at their end.

The extent of the schools' distress will be revealed in the months to come, as colleges and universities announce whether they will sign up with the Common App, sign up with the alternate site, the Universal Application, and/or perhaps do their own individual admissions.  

Today, we learn that the University of Chicago will be joining about 40 other schools in signing up with the Universal Application. Stay tuned for more on this story. In the meantime, here are some excerpts from the U. of Chicago news from the Washington Post: 

"One of the story lines of this college admission cycle is how many universities are looking for alternatives to the Common Application after the rocky rollout of its latest online version.

"This week the University of Chicago, a Common App member since 2008, announced that it will add the Universal College Application as an option for the next cycle." READ MORE