10/31 Common App Update

Post date: Oct 31, 2013 9:01:31 AM

Deadline Prep. As the November application deadlines approach, we have taken steps to prepare for increasing submission volume. On Tuesday we saw 67,000 application and 150,000 school form submissions in a single day with no slow down in system performance. We will continue to monitor the system in the coming week.

Additional Staff. We have added several new staff members to the support team. This addition will allow us to respond more quickly to questions and requests from students and recommenders.

File Uploads. When uploading a file, please ensure that it is 500kb or smaller in size and that the file is in a supported format (.pdf, .doc, .txt) prior to upload. If you are unable to upload in one browser and have access to another, please try uploading in that browser. We have posted an article with additional details and suggestions for uploading files.

Essay Formatting. We have informed all member colleges that errors in the text-to-PDF conversion process have the potential to produce essays that contain unusual formatting, including inconsistent fonts and errant paragraph breaks. We have assured colleges that students have no control over this formatting and that these types of errors are our fault, not the students'. We have heard confirmation from many colleges that they will not in any way penalize students for a technical problem that is out of their control.