The Common App is now open for the Class of 2027! Students can resume work on all “My Common App” sections, including the Family section, which did not roll over due to some structural changes. A couple of updates to note:

• First, the organization name and position/leadership fields are now optional. For the position/leadership role, you’ll answer the question “Did you have a specific position or leadership role?” and the text field now only opens if you say “yes.” If you entered text in this field before the rollover, the text you previously entered will appear here.  Keep in mind that although these fields are optional, they add up to half of the 300 characters you have to work with, so think carefully about how you can use them, and use the Preview function to see what the section will look like.
  
• Second, for the hours spent per week and weeks spent per year on activities, the Common App now suggests students indicate the time students “typically spend during the busiest parts of the year,” and say that “it’s okay to use your best guess.” I know a lot of students agonize over these numbers, especially when the busy season for an activity looks very different than the rest of the year, like it does for theater productions and travel sports. This update should make it easier to share a picture of your time commitment that feels fair and accurate.

Students can also start entering information in the sections for individual schools. I’m recommending that students go through all of their schools’ questions in the next few days, answer what they can do easily, and make note as they go of questions (mostly supplemental essays) they will need to come back to complete. Also, be aware that in the school-specific sections you may have new questions open up that are dependent on your answers to other questions. For example, you might pick a major that then leads to a new question, often an essay, being asked. So do as much as you can now to avoid surprises later.