The Common Application will change beginning in August 2013. It will be a good change in that the navigation features will make it easier for students to work on their application, modify, and get help when needed.
The uploading features will change, however:
Unlike the old model, the new system will not allow students to upload a résumé, although member colleges can add that option if they choose. In such cases, applicants will still be able to zap a document say, a research paper they wrote to the admissions office, but that transaction will not happen as part of the Common Application. Eventually, the Common Application will have overlapping admissions cycles—starting in August and ending after Labor Day—that run simultaneously. And as of next summer, the Common Application will become an online-only venture so long, paper.
via Meet the New Common Application – Head Count – The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The most exciting change I’ve heard about is that Common App is removing the “Topic of Choice.” Not sure why it was ever included since the other five topics are so broad to begin with. In all the years that I’ve been reviewing the Common App essays with my students, it has been extremely rare to read an essay that qualified for the “Topic of Choice” category. Good riddance to this question!
