Colleges Join Universal College Application

We at Ivy Coach stand behind The Universal College Application. It’s a much better college application than The Common App.

As you may remember from this past admissions cycle, Ivy Coach was highly critical of all the flubs by the makers of The Common Application. We pointed these mistakes out one by one and we even went so far as to question whether or not The Common Application was potentially restraining fair trade by financially penalizing universities that did not subscribe exclusively to The Common Application. We also encouraged highly selective universities to offer the Universal College Application in addition to The Common App. Since we raised our voices in support of change at The Common App., a shakeup at the top of The Common App. has happened with the man at the helm of The Common App. for the last decade being ousted and a new interim CEO being appointed.

Additionally, a number of highly selective colleges have begun offering the Universal College Application to applicants so as to avoid the problems of last year’s admissions cycle. Tufts University joined the Universal College Application a while back. So too did Trinity College and Cornell University. And now, Rice University, American University, and Vanderbilt University have joined the Universal College Application as well.

Ivy Coach salutes the universities that most recently joined the Universal College Application — Rice, American, and Vanderbilt — for choosing to defy the financial incentive of offering The Common Application on an exclusive basis. We suspect and hope that more universities will soon follow your charge.

While you’re here, do you believe The Common App. is restraining trade by financially penalizing schools that do not offer the application on an exclusive basis? You know where we stand. But we’re curious to hear what you think so post a Comment on the topic below! And a big congrats to the folks at the UCA!