The Common Application, Universal College Application, and the Coalition Application

- [Narrator] One-stop shopping is a concept…Americans like a lot.…Think of Walmart or Target,…one place you can go to buy everything…from toothbrushes to telescopes.…College shopping has its own version of this idea.…The Common Application is a non-profit organization…founded in 1975 with the intention of streamlining…the college application process.…Nearly 700 participating member schools…allow students to submit a standardized online application.…

Chances are good that one of the schools…you'll be applying to will be on this list.…There are hundreds of small and mid-size private…and public colleges and universities,…everyone from tiny Agnes Scott College in Georgia…to Yale University.…There are also 17 public flagship universities…on the list, including Ohio State,…the University of Michigan, and UNC Chapel Hill.…Every year, more than 850,000 students use The Common App,…submitting at total of 3.5 million individual applications.…

The prompts for The Common App essay are general enough…to give plenty of room for creativity…