what do you put for a regular course on the common app

by Malvina Becker Jr. 8 min read

Common App gives you room to list up to five academic honors. Begin with the most important honors, such as these recognitions: National Honor Society, AP Scholar, National Merit, AICE Diploma, IB Diploma, etc. If you have more than five academic honors, either drop the least important ones or combine a few together, like this:

Enter the semester grade in the semester in which you took the course. Report Course Credits – enter credits as they appear on your transcript. Enter 1.0 in “Final” for yearlong courses. Enter the semester credit in the semester in which you took the course.

Full Answer

How do I apply to college with the Common App?

Oct 06, 2021 · Do all Common App colleges use the Courses & Grades section? 2738585 Views • Oct 6, 2021 • FAQ Article.

What is the education section of the Common App?

The only thing you will be missing are a couple of electives so take your best guess what electives you might take for the Spring semester. That should be as good as you can enter for the time being. This fall before you submit your application, you can talk to your counselor or make tweaks as required on the common app. Best of luck

Who can use the Common App?

Nov 01, 2020 · Please click on the below FAQs for general information about the Common App courses and grades section. Why is the scroll bar missing for my Courses and Grades section? How do I report a college course I took during high school in Courses & Grades? How do I report courses taken outside of my secondary school's courses (e.g. middle school)?

How do you List A Course on a college application?

The Common Application is for first-year students, transfer students, and students who may be returning to school after a long hiatus. Of course, the other group of people that can use the Common App or those who want to apply to a school that accepts the Common App! Photo by Matt Ragland on Unsplash.

What do I put for course name on Common App?

Next, you'll be asked to enter information for each course. Under Course 1 title, type the full name of your first course.Aug 3, 2021

Do you put 12th grade courses on Common App?

Add your year-end grade and credits earned for each class. You will not need to add 12th Grade Courses and Grades if it is prior to the end of S1. At that time, fill out this section only for courses you have completed.

How do you fill out a course and grades on Common App?

Part of a video titled COMMON APP COURSES AND GRADES/COLLEGE SPECIFIC ...
0:10
10:38
When you click on courses and grades it will give you a list of which of the colleges on yourMoreWhen you click on courses and grades it will give you a list of which of the colleges on your dashboard. Require you to enter your courses.

Do I have to fill out courses and grades on Common App?

Information. Some colleges require that you complete the Courses and Grades section of the Common App. If your college is not on this list, you do not need to complete the Courses and Grades section.Oct 6, 2021

What is no grade on common app?

COURSES & GRADES – this section will only appear once you have added a college that requires it • Answer “YES” to the four initial questions. o While you can say “No” to indicate that you do not have access to your transcript, you do.

What is final grade on common app?

Courses and Grading

Our Grading Scale is A – F. You will not need to include a “final” grade for the year (only semester grades). List summer school courses under “other courses.” Please note it will only allow you to select one academic year for all “other courses.” Still list all of them (regardless of year taken).

What happens if you don't have grades for every term for a course?

You do not need to fill every box if your transcript doesn't report a grade for that term. Only report what is displayed on your transcript. Do not add, average, or estimate. This must match your official transcript.Jul 31, 2018

What does incomplete mean on Common App courses and grades?

You may receive an incomplete grade ("I") when your instructor believes you are unable to complete the requirements of the course, because of unforeseeable emergency and justifiable reasons, before the end of the semester.

How do you put middle school grades on Common App?

To report a middle school course, use the “Other Courses” section. For “School Name,” choose the name of the high school that lists the course on the transcript. You do not need to add the middle school name.Aug 24, 2021

What is C&G on Common App?

Courses & Grades
Courses & Grades (C&G) Section

If you are applying to one of the 31 member colleges that use this section, you will fill in your own classes and grades from grades 9 - 11 as well as input what classes you are taking senior year.

Which schools do not use Common App?

Notable Schools that Do Not Use Common App
  • Berea College.
  • Brigham Young University—Provo.
  • Colorado School of Mines.
  • Georgetown University.
  • James Madison University.
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
  • Rutgers University.
  • Texas A&M University–College Station.
Apr 27, 2022

How many students apply to Common App each year?

Each year, more than 1 million students apply to more than 900 Common App member colleges worldwide through our online college application platform. Learn more about applying through our first-year application by following our step-by-step guide below.

What can you check out in your course?

You can check out your Courses & Grades section to learn more. A list of your activities, work, and family responsibilities. You can share your interests and who you are outside of the classroom in the activities section. You can share information about things like work, hobbies, clubs, and community engagement.

What is a requirements grid?

The requirements grid is a comprehensive PDF that lists all the colleges that use the Common App and their requirements. You can also find the grid within the application.

What is the college search tab?

The College Search tab is where you will search for and add the colleges you want to apply to. If you have a school in mind you can search by name. If you want to keep exploring, you can use the more filters button. Some filters include: State or country. Distance from a zip code.

How to apply to college for the first time?

If you are applying to college for the first time you'll select the "First Year Student" button. Provide your login credentials. Make sure you use an email address you check often. This is the email the Common App and colleges will use to get in touch with you. Complete your registration information.

What do colleges ask for in the Family section?

We will ask for your parents occupation, employment status, and education level. If applicable, we will also ask which college (s) they attended and how many degrees they have earned.

What is Explore Colleges profile?

Each college's Explore College s profile provides lots of information about the college. You can find details on application information, campus culture, scheduling visits, and more.

How to access the education section of the Common App?

In order to access the Education section of your Common App, you’ll need to log into your Common App , click on the Common App tab, and click on Education in the column on the left side. The Education section is divided into nine subsections; click on the title of each subsection to open it up. Each part of the Education section will guide you ...

How to add a high school to the Common App?

Scroll through the list to find your high school and click on the circle in front of its name; then click the “Continue” button to add that school as your current or most recent high school. When you return to your Current or Most Recent School section, you’ll see that your school and its contact information have been added to your Common App. Below, you can see that our sample student has designed Bronx High School of Science as their current or most recent school.

What organizations help you with college application?

These organizations might include Questbridge, Upward Bound, the Boys and Girls Club, or others.

How many organizations can you enter on the drop down menu?

You can enter up to three organizations. You’ll then need to provide additional information about the organization (s) that you worked with.

How many honors can you list on the Common App?

In this section, you’ll list and describe up to five academic honors that you’ve received. Since choosing and detailing those honors can be complicated in and of itself, we at CollegeVine have chosen to write a separate post on this issue. Head over to our post on “Reporting Honors and Awards on the Common App” to learn what you should report in this section and how you should report it, from Honor Roll to summer programs to National Merit scholarships.

Can admissions officers evaluate your academic course load?

Once you’ve provided the number of courses you’re taking, you’ll enter information for each of these courses so that admissions officers can evaluate your academic course load. As an example, here’s a screenshot from our sample student’s Common App profile. Note that the sample student has responded that they are only taking one course this academic year; you’ll almost certainly be taking more than that.

Do IB and AP courses count as college courses?

In this context, AP and IB courses do not count as college courses.

What is the Common App?

The Common Application is for first-year students, transfer students, and students who may be returning to school after a long hiatus. Of course, the other group of people that can use the Common App or those who want to apply to a school that accepts the Common App! Photo by Matt Ragland on Unsplash.

How many schools use the Common App?

The Common Application is used by nearly 900 schools, including schools that are non-U.S. based. While we could put that entire list here, you’ll find it much easier to go to the Commonapp.org website to either browse the list of colleges on the Common App, or to search for a specific school.

Why is the Common App important?

There are many steps to applying to college, and the Common App helps to reduce some of those steps by streamlining the entire process. The Common Application allows students to apply to many schools at once, using just one application. This way, you don’t have to fill out the same information (like your personal information, transcripts, etc.), ...

What to do before submitting an essay?

Before submitting your essay, read the prompt and guidelines again and ensure that you’ve answered the question thoroughly.

How many prompts are there for Common Application?

There are seven essay prompts to choose from for the Common Application, so take your time deciding which one you want. You may start writing one essay but then find that another one makes more sense, so it’s okay to brainstorm a few ideas before committing.

What are some examples of prompts?

Some essay prompt examples are, “Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?” Another is, “Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.”

How to make sure you're on the right track when writing an essay?

A great way to make sure you’re on the right track when writing your essay is to first look at successful essays online as an example .

Which is better, the Common App or the Universal College?

However, the choice really depends on the list of colleges you’re interested in. For example, if you have a very long and broad list of colleges, the Common App serves you better. Compared to nearly 900 schools accepting the Common App, only about 150 and 9 schools accept the Coalition Application and the Universal College Application, respectively.

What should a common app essay be about?

Since your Common App essay will be seen by multiple colleges with different values and visions, you want your essay to be more introspective and about your personality than field-specific. For example, if you’re applying as a business major at some schools only, you don’t want your Common App essay to be all about your business side. You can leave that for your supplemental essays for individual schools.

How to waive fees for Common App?

If your school requires an application fee, but you are in need of financial assistance, you can make that known through the Common App. Go to the Profile section and request a fee waiver in the Common App Fee Waiver section. Then, to affirm your request for a fee waiver, your counselor will be asked to fill in a Fee Waiver form.

How many colleges can you use the fee waiver?

However, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), an organization that sets the standards for the fee waiver, you are recommended to use the form to no more than four colleges. Contact your high school counselor directly for more info.

What schools accept applications from multiple platforms?

And some schools accept applications from multiple platforms. For example, some of the Ivy League schools , such as Princeton, Harvard and Cornell, accept applications from all three platforms.

How much does it cost to apply to a college?

According to U.S. News and World Report, the average application fee of 953 colleges was $44 in 2019. Of the 61 schools that charged the highest application fees (including ties), the fee was at least $75. And 19 of the 61 schools charged prices exceeding $75. Stanford, for example, charged $90.

When was the Common App created?

Established in 1975 , the Common App is a one-stop shop to build a single, free college application that is accepted by nearly 900 schools spread across 20 different countries. Besides a few college-specific requirements, students can fill out their general information, such as their name, family information, education and extracurricular activities, just once for however many different colleges on their list.

How many honors can you list on the Common App?

If you have more than five academic honors, either drop the least important ones or combine a few together, like this:

What is the GPA on transcript?

The Cumulative GPA should be the highest one reported on your transcript, if there is one. If not, it’s OK to leave it blank, as it’s not a required field. However, if you did specify your GPA, and your school’s grading scale equates a grade of A to 4 points, and a grade of B to 3 points, etc, then your GPA Scale is 4, even if your GPA is above a 4.0. If you go to a school with another grading scale, it’s best to check with your counselor to be certain what scale is used. The basic rule of thumb to identify your grading scale: use the number associated with a grade of A. If the Cumulative GPA you entered has extra weight added for courses like Honors, AP, IB, AICE, or Dual Enrollment, then select Weighted in response to GPA weighting; otherwise select Unweighted, or leave it blank if you do not know.

Do transcripts contain class rank?

Your transcript should contain both your Class rank and the Graduating class size. If you attend a private school, chances are that your school does not rank; in this case, select “none” for Class rank reporting. There are also some schools that rank students in quartiles, quintiles, or deciles, all of which are selectable options on this page – ...

Do senior year courses count as one course?

Before entering your senior-year courses, you’ll need to enter the number of courses you’d like to report. Both full-year courses, like AP English Language, and single-semester courses, like AP Comparative Government, count as one course despite the difference in course timing. Count your courses carefully before entering them, because if you realize you made a mistake after entering course names and then change the number of courses, you’ll have to re-enter the timing of each course (full-year, first semester, or second semester).

image

Accessing The Education Section

Image
First of all, to fill out the Common App’s Education section, you’ll need to get to it. In order to access the Education section of your Common App, you’ll need to log into your Common App, click on the Common App tab, and click on Education in the column on the left side. The Education section is divided into nine subsections; cli…
See more on blog.collegevine.com

Current Or Most Recent School Section

  • In this section, the Common App will collect information about the school you currently attend or have most recently attended.
See more on blog.collegevine.com

Current Or Recent School Lookup

  • Your first task is to tell the Common App what high school you attend now or most recently attended, as well as various facts about that high school. Fortunately, you don’t have to provide all this information from scratch; the Common App system includes a database of high schools that you’ll search through to find and choose yours. When you open up the Current or Most Recent Sc…
See more on blog.collegevine.com

Other Questions

  • Once you’ve designated your current or most recent school, you’ll have to answer a list of questions about that school, seen in the following screenshot. Below the screenshot, we’ll go over how to respond to each of those questions. One more note on completing this section: if you don’t have a school counselor, fill in these answers for whoever has “overseen your academic progres…
See more on blog.collegevine.com

Other School Section

  • In this section, you’ll enter information about any other schools you’ve attended for high school, aside from the one you’re currently attending or most recently attended. For instance, if you moved to a new city during high school, this is where you’ll put information about the school you attended before you moved. If you were homeschooled for part of high school but then attende…
See more on blog.collegevine.com

College & Universities Section

  • In this section, you’ll provide information about any colleges or universities you have already attended. This section is relevant to you if you took any courses at a college or university while you were in high school through a “post-secondary option” or similar program. In this context, AP and IB courses do not count as college courses. When you initially open up the Colleges & Unive…
See more on blog.collegevine.com

Grades Section

  • In this section, you’ll provide information about your academic performance in high school- specifically, your grades as expressed by your class rank and GPA. When you click on Grades, you’ll see a screen like the one below: We’ll go over each of the questions you need to answer below. It’s likely that you won’t know all of these answers offhand, but your school should be abl…
See more on blog.collegevine.com

Current Or Most Recent Year Courses Section

  • This section is where you’ll provide detailed information about the courses you’re currently taking, or, if you are no longer in high school, the courses you took during your most recent year of high school. For most students, this will simply mean entering the classes you’re taking during your senior year. Before you start filling out this section, you’ll probably want to have a copy of your s…
See more on blog.collegevine.com

Honors Section

  • In this section, you’ll list and describe up to five academic honors that you’ve received. Since choosing and detailing those honors can be complicated in and of itself, we at CollegeVine have chosen to write a separate post on this issue. Head over to our post on “Reporting Honors and Awards on the Common App”to learn what you should report in this section and how you should …
See more on blog.collegevine.com

Community-Based Organizations Section

  • In this section, you’ll answer questions about any community-based organizations which may have helped you with the college application process without charging a fee. These organizations might include Questbridge, Upward Bound, the Boys and Girls Club, or others. If you’ve been aided by a community-based organization like these, you likely know it already. If you’re not sure wheth…
See more on blog.collegevine.com