I love the Common Application for the convenience it offers to students. However, it can be a bit quirky at times. Beginning in August 2013, there will be some changes to the CommonApp that will make it more user-friendly for students:
The essay length will remain the same—250 to 500 words—but for the first time the application will enforce the minimum and the maximum word limits. Students who write essays that are too long or too short will receive an error message prompting them to make adjustments.
Among other changes, students will see fewer questions per screen. Applicants will not have to answer questions that don’t apply to them, based on their answers to previous questions.
A sidebar will offer on-screen help, and a new interface will feature “at a glance” progress checks that show students what parts of the application they have and have not completed. (Think green check marks.)
via Meet the New Common Application – Head Count – The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The change that is most exciting . . . drumroll please . . . .
Removal of the “Topic of your Choice” essay. I’ve never liked this option because it seemed redundant and misleading. The other 5 topics were already so broad that it was difficult to write about something that didn’t fit with one of the other topics. In effect, when students choose the “topic of your choice,” it was more evident that they had overlooked the other choices.
Did you select “topic of your choice”? What did you write about?