Education
In the Education Section of Common App, you will be asked questions about your school, grades, classes, and additional information that will be shared with all colleges and universities where you apply. The Education section should take approximately 25 minutes to complete.
Items marked with a red asterisk * are required. You are not required to complete items that do not have the red asterisk.
Introduction
Colleges want to understand your educational history. In the Education section of My Common Application, you will provide the following information:
- Your educational history, including high schools and college programs you have attended
- Your GPA
- Your senior year courses
- Any academic honors or awards you have received, or academic honors societies you are part of
- Your future plans
Videos
In this video, we discuss how to complete the Current or Most Recent Secondary/High School section of My Common Application. This video is approximately 3 minutes.
In this video, we discuss how to complete the Other Secondary/High Schools section of My Common Application.
The purpose of this section is for you to share the names of any high schools that you attended before the one that you currently attend. This video is approximately 3 minutes.
In this video, we discuss how to complete the Colleges & Universities section of My Common Application.
The purpose of this section is for you to share with colleges any college courses that you have taken outside of your high school. These courses could include college-level courses, summer programs, or dual enrollment programs. This video is approximately 5 minutes.
In this video, we discuss how to complete the Grades section of My Common Application. You will share with colleges information about the size of your high school graduating class rank, your GPA, GPA scale, and whether your grades are weighted or unweighted. This video is approximately 5 minutes.
In this video, we discuss how to complete the Current or Most Recent Year Courses section of My Common Application. Typically, these courses will be the ones that you are enrolled in for 12th grade. This section includes information about the courses that you are currently taking and plan to take for the rest of the school year. This video is approximately 5 minutes.
In this video, we discuss how to complete the Education – Honors, Community-Based Organizations & Future Plans sections of My Common Application. These sections include information if you have received academic honors or awards, or are a member of an academic honors society. They also include information about whether you have received support in your college applications from a Community-Based Organization and what your future plans may be. This video is approximately 5 minutes.
Tips & Reminders
- There is a question about whether your progression through high school has been affected. This question is asking if you will graduate earlier or later than the typical four-year time period. If you have taken time off from high school, you can provide an explanation in this section. Colleges understand that sometimes students do not complete high school in four years, and they are interested in understanding your situation. Please explain clearly and thoughtfully your circumstances.
- If you have attended more than one high school, colleges are interested in understanding why. This is where you can provide a brief explanation.
- To be accurate, make sure you have a copy of your official high school transcript before filling in the Grades and the Current or Most Recent Year Courses sections. Do not guess when completing this section or abbreviate the names of courses.
- If you have participated in a dual enrollment program, which is a program where you take college courses for which you receive both high school and college credit, also enter this information in the Colleges & Universities section. Credits earned from summer programs on a college campus can also be entered here. If you are unsure about where to enter this information, check with your high school counselor. Common App asks you to list courses taken at colleges and universities. Colleges expect you to list all college-level courses taken for credit.
- If there are additional questions, Common App Solutions Center has information for applicants, counselors, and recommenders.
Class rank is a way to compare a student’s grades to those of their classmates. Some schools do not rank students. If a school’s rank is Exact, that means the school gives students a numerical ranking based on the strength of their GPA in comparison to their classmates. Decile means the school ranks students according to the top 10%, top 20%, top 30%, etc. Quintile means the school ranks students according to the top 20%, 40%, 60%, or 80% of the class. Quartile means the school ranks students according to the top 25%, 50%, or 75% of the class.
A weighted GPA is based on adding an extra point or percentage of a point for Honors, Advanced Placement, college, or dual enrollment courses you have taken in high school. Check with your school counselor or administrator about whether your high school calculates a weighted GPA.
An unweighted GPA is a calculation of your GPA based on the grades you have received in your classes at your high school. An unweighted GPA does not award any extra points for Honors or AP classes. Check with your school counselor or school administrator if you are unsure of your unweighted GPA.