How to raise children: Lessons from the Common App college application form

The Common App application system officially opened on August 1st, marking the start of the 2026-27 US college application season . The Common App form is extensive, and almost every section affects the application outcome. Based on over 20 years of experience applying to Ivy League universities in the US, Hillhouse provides a section-by-section analysis of the Common App application form, clarifying what universities value most .

Common App is mainly divided into the following sections:

• personal information

• Family Information

• Educational background

• Standardized test scores

• Extracurricular activities

• Main document

• School Supplementary Documents

• Letter of recommendation

The Hillhouse teacher will provide a breakdown of the content for each section.

1. Personal and family information

This section is the "Basic Information Area" of the application form, used to create your identity profile, including:

Name, date of birth, gender, nationality

Contact information (address, phone number, email)

First language and other language skills

Information about parents or guardians (such as education level, occupation, etc.)

Fill out this section truthfully. Admissions officers will use this information to determine whether you are a "first-generation college student" and your "ethnicity".

2. Educational Background

This section records your academic background:

• Your current or most recently attended high school (school name, year of enrollment, grading system).

• My former middle school

• Have you taken any university courses (course difficulty)?

• Academic performance (e.g., number of students in the grade, GPA, class ranking)

• The courses currently selected for Grade 12 (course difficulty)
  

• Academic achievements in international, national, state, and school competitions in grades 9-12

Admissions officers assess an applicant's academic ability, potential, and creativity based on their educational background, which is one of the most important criteria for university admissions.

For twenty years, Hillhouse has consistently focused on comprehensively improving students' academic and competitive achievements as the core of their competitiveness. 1. Our Hillhouse planning teachers understand students, courses, and schools, and plan students' courses from a young age to ensure they can challenge the most difficult courses, or even university courses, while maintaining top grades, improving GPA, and remaining at the top of their class .

2. We also provide comprehensive competition tutoring, tailoring our services to each student's strengths and weaknesses, enabling them to participate in various high-profile competitions and win top prizes.

We offer comprehensive tutoring to improve GPA and competition scores. All our students who apply to top 20 universities not only have high GPAs but also impressive competition results .

3. Standardized test scores

Enter your completed standardized test scores here, including:

• SAT or ACT (if applicable)

• TOEFL / IELTS / Duolingo (International Students)

• Academic exams such as AP, IB, and A-Level

• Universities have four different requirements for the SAT/ACT standardized tests:
  

Hillhouse boasts an excellent team of teachers who provide high-level tutoring for SAT/ACT, AP/IB courses. Students achieve outstanding results, and our teachers have tutored Ivy League-level subjects such as writing, math, physics, chemistry, biology, economics, and sociology, helping students achieve top scores.

4. Extracurricular activities

Please fill in 1-10 activities. The content may include:

• Clubs/Student Union/Volunteer Service/Research/Competitions/Internships/Hobbies, etc.

• For each activity, please fill in the activity name, organization name, and position.

• Time invested weekly/yearly

• Brief description of the event (maximum 150 characters)

Summarizing your extracurricular activities in concise and effective sentences is a major challenge. Hillhouse's planning and essay advisors will guide you to delve into the highlights of your activities, showcasing your genuine and sustained commitment to extracurricular activities to admissions officers, and highlighting the personal qualities you demonstrated during those activities.

Taking Hillhouse's student leadership development program as an example, our planning teachers guide students to actively participate in various clubs both inside and outside the classroom and serve as club presidents. They participate in and organize community activities and volunteer work. Many students hold important positions such as Secretary-General and Minister of the Vancouver Model United Nations, president of the school's student council and various ministers, president of various clubs such as the debate team and sports teams, and have long organized students to do volunteer work in hospitals and pharmacies. Some have obtained positions such as editor of a famous newspaper, research assistant in a UBC laboratory, and data analyst in a startup company. Some students have also been selected as outstanding youth leaders in Vancouver and young scientists in Canada.

Many students trained by Hillhouse have gone on to become student council presidents . Every student has the right to run for various positions, including student council president. Academic excellence is not a requirement, but students who are enthusiastic about serving others are.

Link: Student Council Election and Operation: A Case Study of Student Leadership Development at Hillhouse

5. Master document

This is the "soul" of the application form, fully reflecting your personal qualities.

Personal Essay (Main Document)

• You must choose one of the seven official questions.

• Word count: Maximum 650 words

• The content should showcase your growth, way of thinking, values, or life story.

1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

   Some students possess a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so important to them that they feel their application would be incomplete without mentioning it. If you are one of them, please share your story.

   
   

2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you face a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

   The lessons we learn from overcoming obstacles are often crucial to our future success. Please describe an experience where you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did this experience affect you? What did you learn from it?

   
   

3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

   Think back to an experience where you questioned or challenged a belief or viewpoint. What prompted you to start thinking about it? What was the outcome?

   
   

4. Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

   Think back to a time when someone did something for you that made you unexpectedly happy or grateful. How did that gratitude affect or motivate you?

   
   

5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

   Talk about an achievement, event, or epiphany that prompted your personal growth and gave you a new understanding of yourself or others.

   
   

6. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

   Describe a topic, idea, or concept that you were so engrossed in that you lost track of time. Why was it so captivating? Who or what would you turn to for help if you wanted to learn more about it?

   
   

7. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design

   Please submit an article on a topic of your choice. It can be an article you have written before, a response to other writing prompts, or a topic you have designed yourself.
   

Additional Information (Optional)

This supplementary explanation has two questions that you can choose to answer:

Hillhouse's essay tutor has had his own essay reviewed by Yale admissions officers . Essays he tutored were read aloud by the Dean of Undergraduate Studies at Stanford University during a freshman orientation .

Link: Seeking a top writing tutor? Insightful commentary video from a top essay tutor helping you get into Ivy League schools.

6. School Supplementary Documents

Each university typically has:

• Additional essays (such as Why School, Why Major)

• Professional Interest Survey

• Does the person need financial assistance?

7. Letters of Recommendation

Generally speaking, recommendation letters need to:

• A counselor recommendation is required.

• Two teacher recommendation letters are required.

• Optional: Other Recommender

The Common App will ask if you want to waive your right to view the recommendation letter. It is recommended to select "Yes, I waive my right".

We will discuss recommendation letters in detail in a separate article.

Wishing all the graduating class of 2026-27 the best of luck!