News & Notes: Big changes ahead for the electronic Common Application

The nonprofit Common Application, Inc., announced a massive $7 to $8 million overhaul of its widely used, generic college application, which is currently used by 456 schools across the country. The new version should be ready by 2013, according to an article published in The New York Times on Jan. 19.

The upcoming changes are not substantive, but technical. Common App 4.0, as the project is known, will revamp the electronic version of the application in an effort to streamline the application process and fix many of the glitches that make the current system so frustrating.

The new version looks to fix design flaws that cut off parts of applicants’ answers in the form received by admissions offices and may allow students to submit their applications via iPad. Students will also be able to use their phones to check their application status and even add schools to which they wish to send their materials.

Roughly 750,000 students will have submitted over three million electronic applications this year, a 25 percent increase from last year alone.