Latest News from Common App Org

After near silence yesterday, when the Common App website seemed to have crashed and panic spread across the country, moments ago, this message was posted on the Common App's Facebook page. This is the message in its entirety:

"We are aware that some users are experiencing problems with the PDF previews. We are investigating the cause and will report as soon as we have information to share. As frustrating as this problem is for those who encounter it, please know that it is not systemic and does not impact all users."

I will post more information as it becomes available. From what I can see, Twitter remains the best place to check the latest news on the Common App and now, the Universal Application, which several dozen schools have signed up with. For more on that, please click here.

Yale to Applicants: Don't Worry Abt Common App Problems

I write this on the night of the day the Common Application website essentially crashed and tens of thousands of students and their families are in full-blown panic mode because of this. Several schools - UNC and Georgia Tech - have early application deadlines tomorrow, and thousands of other students are trying to get a head start on sending in their applications. 

A client wrote me a panicked email yesterday morning about not being able to submit an application. Tonight, the student sent along this email communication from Yale, the relevant part of which I quote in full: 

"Thank you for beginning your application to Yale. My colleagues and I in New Haven look forward to reviewing your application in our Admissions Committee. Yale's first application deadline is coming up soon. Students who would like to apply for the Single-Choice Early Action Program should plan to have their application materials submitted by November 1st.

"As you may know, the Common Application has recently been experiencing some technical difficulties related to the uploading and processing of documents and application materials. I want to assure you that this is not a cause for concern. The Yale Admissions Office expects to receive and process all application materials submitted online within our usual time frame. If these delays continue or there are related problems in the future, we will need to make exceptions for late documents and are prepared to do so. If a document is missing or improperly processed, a member of our staff will reach out to you or your school counselor directly."

8 helpful tips 4 dealing with the Common App!

8 Tips for Improving the Common App Experience

Here are 2! Please click on the article for 6 more. 

Avoid traffic jams
Try to work on your Common Application during less congested hours. After-school and Sunday afternoons are the Common Application equivalent of rush hour. The software grinds to a crawl and Print Previews are slow to emerge. More importantly, the software sometimes experiences mini-crashes as it tries to deal with heavy loads of applicants. Whatever you do, avoid the 24 hours immediately preceding major due dates (October 15, November 1, November 15, for early admission applications).

Conform to system requirements
The Common Application is very specific aboutsystem requirements, which are found in a nondescript, easy-to-miss link at the bottom of each page of the application website. Most applicants have found that Firefox and Chrome work well, although serous problems have recently been reported because of changes in Chrome, which appear as a loss of data entered into the application. Your first line of attack for any recurring problems should be to restart your computer. The second would be to review your system and change browsers if necessary. READ MORE

Common App Disaster Official--in NYTimes.

First thing this morning a client wrote to me about his difficulties submitting his Common Application. His mother paid the fee and then he couldn't submit the application. He was confused. Moments later, I happened to be reading the New York Times on-line, and the story is finally out for all to see. 

A week ago, using Chrome seemed to fix many problems. But Chrome recently did an upgrade which has caused even MORE problems. 

For the latest news you might be able to use if you are having difficulties, please consult the Common Application Facebook page. 

Here are excerpts from the Times article and a link so you can read the rest:
"A function that allows students to preview applications and print them sometimes just shows blank pages — a problem that may be linked to which Web browsers they use. And, as Ms. Geiger discovered, the system often does not properly format essays that are copied and pasted from another program, like Microsoft Word.

"When a user pays an application fee with a credit card, the system produces a “signature page,” where the card holder’s name must be typed to confirm the charge. But that page can take a day or more to show up, leading some users to try to pay multiple times. Worse yet, guidance and admissions counselors say that those who do not immediately see the signature page may be unaware of its existence and may never check back — in other words, they may think they have submitted college applications when they have not." READ MORE

Lacy Crawford Talks About Moms, Essays & Early Decision

Reporter Mary MacVean does a 39 minute interview with Lacy Crawford, former-essay-coach and author of the new novel, EARLY DECISION, in the LA Times.

"Lacy Crawford’s novel of college application frenzy, “Early Decision,” has plenty of rich people behaving badly. It also has plenty of young people trying to find their way in the fray of deciding the next chapter of their lives.

"The stories came from her life as a college application counselor, and she talked to us for a 4Moms chat about college applications, and the anxiety of the personal essay – just as the application season heats up.

"A former high school English teacher, Crawford found that her “brilliant” students had written college essays that were “not very good,” she says. The reason was straight-forward: They had never been taught to write personal essays." READ AND LISTEN ~ 

An Unusual Message for a College Essay Blog

I haven't ever posted anything like this on my blog, but I just saw the ad to take the pledge, and I think it's a good one. Click here. Make it to college. Make it through college. And beyond. Don't. Text. And. Drive. Ever. 

Students and Parents Aren't the Only Ones Angry at the Common App Folks...

Even as we speak, a gathering in Toronto is taking place of member schools of the Common Application. I've recently been reading the Common App's Facebook page to get a sense of the problems plaguing students, parents, and recommenders, but this article, from the Chronicle of Higher Education, reveals how frustrated the colleges themselves are with a seemingly endless number of glitches in the Common App system, at all levels.

"On Thursday, Rob Killion, the Common Application’s executive director, acknowledged members’ concerns. Delays in the development process, he said, had “big ripple effects down the road.” The organization should have relayed those problems to member colleges more quickly, he said: “We fell down on communication in many respects.” Mr. Killion vowed that the organization would resolve the problems so that all member colleges, even those with November 1 deadlines, would be able to process all of their applications on time.

"That message didn’t seem to convince some people in the audience. One dean complained that she had waited more than two months for Common Application officials to answer her questions about the technical problems her office had experienced. “This goes beyond substandard communication,” she said. “The core issue, at least in my opinion, is responsiveness.” READ MORE