General applications like the Common App and the Universal College App are increasing in popularity as a one-size-fits-all admissions application.

But sometimes one size doesn’t quite fit everybody. For instance, you may not be interested in the same college major across all the schools that you are applying to. Or you may not require the same kind of financial aid at each institution. Or, you may not want to apply for Early Action or Early Decision at every school.

The standardized applications are trying to include these differences without reverting back to the institutions’ individual applications.

Beginning July 1, 2008, when the next admissions cycle starts, the online Common Application will include a handful of questions that may be answered differently for different colleges within the Common Application itself. These questions include academic interest, career interest, decision plan (Early Decision, Early Acceptance, rolling, etc.), entry term (Fall or Spring), and financial aid intent.

The online Common App will also let you hide certain answers for certain schools. For example, if standardized test scores are optional at a particular school, the college may decide to suppress all standardized test scores. The Common App will then prevent that college from seeing your scores. These changes will cut down the number of alternative versions that you need to write - which means less work for you!

The Universal College Application also allows users to tailor your application, but to a lesser extent.

If you realize that you made a mistake (be it grammatical or if you provided wrong information), the Universal College App allows you to make a copy of your submission, make the desired changes, and then submit the desired application to other designated member colleges or universities.

All this to say, standardized application doesn’t mean that you are standard in any way. These tools will only help you stand out from the crowd!

There’s a new general application on campus - the Universal College Application - and it looks like it has staying power.

With 44 participating members since October 2007 (and up to 58 today… and counting), the Universal College Application (a.k.a. the UCA) is beginning to rival the Common App thanks to its goal of simplifying the college admissions process. With the UCA, college-bound students can apply to any member of its participating colleges online, in one shot. That’s right, you only need to fill out the application once.

Unlike the Common Application (which only accepts colleges that use “a holistic selection process”), the Universal College Application accepts colleges that don’t require an essay and letters of recommendation, which prevents them from using the Common App. The UCA therefore tries to have a more inclusive approach. While the Common Application boasts many more private colleges, the Universal College App includes large public universities (one of its goals is to get a diverse range of students using it). 

The Universal College Application does demand that the schools it serves be accredited and uphold the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s Statement of Principles of Good Practice.

Like the Common App, colleges that participate in the Universal College App may also require additional supplements as a way of differentiating applications for each college. This can include medical or health history, an essay, additional information about whether you are planning to live on campus, standardized test forms, and whether you are applying for Early Decision or Early Action.

Check out CampusCompare’s college main pages to see if the schools that you are applying to accept the Universal College App form and check with the universities to make sure you have all the right forms.

So which general application will come out the winner? We’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, schools like Harvard accept both, in an effort to get as broad and diverse a range of students as possible applying to its school.

Looks like with more options, you come out the winner!