UNC Admissions recently announced it has applied to the Common Application group, meaning students applying to UNC would no longer fill out a dedicated UNC application.
Although UNC has been reluctant to adopt the Common Application, we think the decision will significantly decrease the burden on high school students applying to college.
The unique elements of the UNC application — including the essays and short answer questions — can be incorporated into the supplement portion of the Common App.
Most high school students already fill out the Common App, so UNC is just making it easier for them to apply.
And the majority of the information on applications is the same — filling out personal information and extracurricular activities. So it significantly lowers the burden on college applicants if that kind of information can be consolidated.
Admissions should remain wary, though, of the perverse incentive to use the Common App to apply to a large numbers of schools without seriously considering attending them.
The flip side of this potential drawback will be that Chapel Hill will come to the attention of students who might not necessarily have the school on their radar.
With lowered transaction time costs, more — and more qualified — students might apply to the school.
Admissions director Steve Farmer said the school would have to pay the Common App group handling fees for every application it processes and that ConnectCarolina would have to be updated.
