COMMON APPLICATION GUIDE

[Pages:1]COMMON APPLICATION GUIDE

FOR HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELORS/RECOMMENDERS

The Common Application offers a unique platform to simplify the application process for students applying to more than one university. OU is one of the new member institutions to the Common Application. To be considered for admission to OU, students must complete the Common Application at apply.ou.edu. In addition to this new application process, OU offers a holistic admission review enabling our admissions team to examine a wide array of objective and subjective accomplishments and capabilities of each student for admission consideration. This comprehensive process provides students with a greater opportunity to describe ways in which their academic goals are aligned with those of the University.

To apply to OU, there are two distinct sections within the Common Application: the standard Common Application and the OU member questions. Students are considered for admission and merit scholarships based on national test scores, class rank, grade point average, recommendations, and community engagement without submitting the OU Writing Supplement. However, students will not be considered for leadership, community involvement and academic degree specific scholarships until they have submitted the supplemental questions. The OU Writing Supplement should be submitted by Feb. 1.

You are essential to helping the student complete their application. The insight and opinion you have of a student, their letter of recommendation, and their transcript is imperative when making the admissions decision and must be uploaded on the student's behalf before an application can be reviewed. Any high school official--counselor, teacher, principal, etc.--may prepare the recommendation letter. If you choose to not provide a written evaluation of the student after a recommendation request, be sure to inform the student to seek another school official to provide one as this information will not be available on their side of the Common Application checklist. However, as the counselor, you will want to ensure that the transcript has been uploaded. Use this sheet as a reference if you have questions about the Common Application.

STEP

1

CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT

INSTRUCTIONS

In order to create an account, you must first be invited by a student to complete online registration. You will receive an email with a link to the site and your login data.

MORE DETAILS

Once a student has invited you to submit a form on their behalf, you will be able to access the system directly through the link included in your invitation email.

If you choose to opt out of the online system, which is not recommended, each student will be instructed to download hard copies of the recommendation forms from within their account and provide them to you for completion and mailing.

2

TRACK YOUR STUDENTS

Whether you are participating in the recommendation process for one or more students, your Dashboard makes it easy to focus on what is left to be done in order to meet deadlines and fulfill requirements.

When you login to your account for the first time, you will be taken to the Profile tab. Here is where you put in your personal and school information. Fill these sections out as completely as possible, however only fields marked with an asterisk are essential.

After you complete your Profile, you will be automatically sent to the Students tab.

3 TELL US ABOUT YOUR STUDENT

For each student, the counselor will need to provide the following information in the School Report section: class rank, GPA, your opinion of the applicant's course rigor, a written evaluation (if possible), and a transcript in either .doc, .docx, .wpd, .rtf, .xls, .xlsx, .pdf, or .txt format.

Note: If you choose to not provide a written evaluation of the student, inform the student to seek another school official to provide one.

In addition to the School Report section in the Workspace tab, there are supplementary places to add information as needed.

The Fee Waiver section allows you to select 9 indicators of economic need to establish a waiver.

The Optional Report section is useful if you need to make a change or add to any of the information provided in the school report.

The Mid Year Report may be required if a 7 semester transcript is requested by the university.

The Final Report will be required to provide a final transcript.

ADDITIONAL HELP While working in the Dashboard there will always be helpful tips under the Help Center heading found on the right side of the screen. This is a great resource if instant clarification is needed.

For more in depth issues, enter into the Help Center itself by clicking the heading. This new page will allow you to search the knowledge base by browsing topics or by searching by keyword. Also in the Help Center, you can access the Ask A Question tab to send your specific concern to the Common Application technical team via a help ticket. Lastly, the Training Resources tab has a plethora of information to assist including how-to videos and reference documents.

Remember that your official OU Representative is also standing by to help in any way possible. Feel free to give OU Prospective Student Services a call at (405) 325-2151, and we will be available to help you through the entire Common Application process.

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