6 Common App Mistakes to Avoid

Last Updated on August 4, 2024 by Jill Schwitzgebel

If your student is finishing up their college applications on the Common Application platform, congratulations!  Before hitting “Submit,” your teen might want to review some of the most common, Common App mistakes to make sure their application is ready to go.  And if your senior has not yet begun working on their applications, it might be helpful for them to read this because it may eliminate some questions that are likely to come up as they complete it.   These “mistakes” also happen to be the top Common App FAQs.

1. Using the Wrong GPA or Wrong GPA Scale

Most students who have taken any Honors, AP, or IB classes have two GPAs listed on their transcripts – weighted and unweighted.  The Common Application now directs students to list their weighted GPA on the application.  This often confuses students, who are unsure which grading scale to select when using weighted GPA.  At a typical high school that reports letter grades from A through F, that grading scale is a 4.0 scale.  It is highly possible that a student could have a weighted GPA that is actually above a 4.0.  That’s perfectly fine.  Students should then select the “Weighted” option in the dropdown menu.  It is a rare high school that uses a 5.0 scale (that would mean that an A in a non-honors class is considered to be a 5.0).

When a student’s high school doesn’t use a traditional 4.0 (or a 5.0) scale, it can get confusing.  Some high school use percentages.  In that case, it’s best for students to consult with their high school counselor, rather than just trying to guess what their percentage would translate to on a 4.0 scale.  Note that there IS an option to say that the school does not provide GPA. (Select “none”).  This is not typical, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, I have been seeing more of that in 2020 and 2021.

Don’t stress too much about this – the college admissions department will have a student’s transcript and ultimately, they are going to convert the grades to their own scale.

2.  Making Up a Class Rank

Sometimes, students assume that it’s odd that their high school does not use class rank or list it on their transcript.  (It’s not!)  So, their solution is to try to make a guess about where they rank in their class.  Some high schools do use quartiles or other methods to give a very general class rank.  There is an option to choose that type of ranking – no need to make up a specific number.

If a student does not have a rank listed on their transcript, and is unsure about whether their high school uses class rank, again, it’s a good idea to ask their school counselor.    In the absence of rank (or of knowing their rank), it’s a BAD idea to make up a class rank.  This is easily verifiable by an admissions department.  It’s much better to leave this blank, if unknown.

3.  Failing to Sign the FERPA Waiver

This one confuses some students.  Should they waive their rights to seeing their recommendations?   I get that they might want to know what is being written about them, so the temptation is to not waive that right.  But from a college’s perspective, it’s better if they do.  I wrote about why here.

4.  Using the Additional Information Section Unnecessarily

I spend a lot of time telling teens that many parts of the application that say “Optional” are not actually optional.  So naturally when they see the Additional Information section of the application, they feel like there is no way that it should be left blank.  But, this is one part of the application that really only needs to be completed for specific situations.  It should not be used as an overflow for an essay that was too long for the essay section.  It should not be used to write a whole other “mini-essay.”  There are times that it should absolutely be used – for example, to explain something that might not make sense on the transcript, whether it’s a poor grade, or a class that doesn’t fit the student’s overall curriculum profile.  For more information about when it makes sense to use this section, check out How to Use the Common App Additional Info Section.

5.  Not Allowing Someone Else to Read Through Their Essay

For many teens, the college essay feels very personal.  And, a good essay should feel that way!  But because it’s so personal, they are tempted to not share it with anyone, feeling that they can edit it themselves.  In other cases, they are concerned that their parents will edit it so much, that their own voice in the essay will disappear.  (That’s a valid concern.)  But, please convince your teens to allow someone else to read through it and suggest any necessary edits, whether it’s you, their English teacher, or another trusted adult.  It is too easy for a student to miss a run-on sentence or a grammatical error in their own essay.

6. Not Completing the Future Plans Section

Plenty of high school seniors are undecided about what path their future will take. But, completing this section with their current goals for their future education and career can really enhance their application, presuming the rest of their application supports those goals.  There is nothing binding here – if they change their mind about being an attorney, they are not locked into that path. If they decide their education is complete after a bachelor’s degree instead of getting their Ph.D., that’s also perfectly okay.

Finally

Know that there are very few mistakes that can be made on the Common App that would be completely fatal to a student’s chance of being accepted everywhere.  The one big mistake that likely would disqualify them from everywhere is simple – dishonesty.  If a student plagiarizes their essay or claims to be the class valedictorian at a high school that doesn’t even rank or claims to be president of a club that doesn’t exist, then yes, expect that a rejection will be headed their way.

If a student makes a typo or leaves something blank, it may not be ideal, but it is unlikely to be the reason that they don’t get accepted somewhere.  Admissions departments know that the applicants are human, and they know that they are humans under a great deal of pressure, typically.  The admissions team will reach out to the student or their high school if they need more information or clarification. (Yet another reason to nag them to check their emails!)  Many times, the information they need will be on a student’s high school transcript, if a student has left something blank.  And, while students cannot make changes to their application after they have submitted it to a college (just like if they had put it in the mail), if they notice a mistake after that submission, they CAN make changes prior to submitting to subsequent colleges.