In Support of the Universal College Application

Ivy Coach was recently featured in an article of Brown University’s “Brown Daily Herald.”

Bev Taylor, Founder of Ivy Coach, was recently featured in an article of Brown University’s “Brown Daily Herald” on the topic of the Universal College Application. If you’re a regular reader of our college admissions blog, you know that Ivy Coach has been quite critical of the Common Application over the past year. And rightly so. Curious to learn a bit about our stance if you haven’t read our blogs previously on the subject? Then check out this article Bev wrote for “The Huffington Post” about whether or not the Common Application is restraining trade.

Anyhow, in the article on the rise of the Universal College Application in “The Brown Daily Herald,” Bev is quoted as follows: “Though the Common App and UCA have similar online formats, applicants can choose the topic on their long essay for the UCA but not on the Common App, said Bev Taylor, founder and president of Ivy Coach, a New York-based college consulting firm. The Common App no longer lets applicants select their essay topic, she added. ‘A lot of creativity was lost’ when the Common App decided to eliminate the topic-of-choice on its application, Taylor said. The Common App also does not allow students to upload their essays, which means they cannot use special characters or visual illustrations in their essays.”

Ivy Coach firmly takes the stance that more colleges should use the Universal College Application and we are very proud and happy for the surge in colleges that now support the UCA. The Common Application was an utter disaster last year and, for this reason and so many more, this organization should not be the only supplier of the college application. Ivy Coach supports competition. In America, competition brings out the best. We urge highly selective colleges throughout the country to offer the Universal College Application as well or instead of the Common App. It’s the right thing to do.