Common App, UC, ApplyTexas and More: Which Application Does Your Student Need?

Many families picture "the college application" as a single form. In practice, a typical list of eight to twelve colleges often spans two or three different systems, each with its own essays, deadlines, and quirks. A student applying to Duke, UCLA, and UT Austin, for example, will work in the Common App, the University of California's application, and possibly ApplyTexas.

None of these platforms is hard on its own. What trips families up is managing them together. This guide explains how each major platform works and how to keep a multi-platform list organized.

The Major Platforms at a Glance

Inside the Common App

The Common App is the largest platform by far. In the 2025–26 season, according to its end-of-season report, 1,527,328 first-year applicants submitted 10,786,782 applications, an average of just over seven colleges per student.

The application has two layers:

• My Common Application is filled out once and sent to every college: profile, family, education, testing, activities, and writing. For 2026–27, the activities section has been renamed "activities and experiences," with room for commitments beyond traditional clubs. Answers here roll over from year to year, so a rising senior can start in the spring.
• My Colleges holds each college's own questions, writing supplements, and recommendation assignments. The Common App advises starting college-specific questions and supplements only for the year your student will actually apply.

A few details matter more than families expect:

• Every college sets its own requirements. According to the Common App, each college decides its deadlines, fees, whether the personal essay is required or optional, whether it wants a self-reported courses and grades section, its testing policy, portfolios, supplements, and recommendations. The college's information page in the application is the place to check.
• Some colleges want grades entered by hand. The "Courses & Grades" section asks students to self-report their transcript for colleges that require it. Enter it exactly from a copy of the transcript.
• Context has its own place. Since 2025–26, a required "responsibilities and circumstances" question lets students describe things like a paid job that supports the family or caring for siblings, without making them the subject of an essay.
• The 20-college limit is firm. Students can add up to 20 colleges, and a college can't be removed from the list once an application has been submitted to it.
• Recommenders have defined roles. Counselors submit the school report and transcript; teachers speak to the student's intellectual curiosity; "other recommenders," such as coaches or employers, are accepted by some colleges; advisors can track progress but submit nothing. Parents fill out a form only when their student applies Early Decision, as part of the Early Decision agreement.

The personal essay is the centerpiece of My Common Application. Our guide to the college essay covers the prompts and the supplements.

The University of California Application

The UC system doesn't use the Common App. One UC application reaches all nine undergraduate campuses, at $80 per campus ($95 for international and non-immigrant applicants). It has the biggest differences of any platform: four 350-word personal insight questions instead of a personal essay, grades that students report themselves, no letters of recommendation unless a campus asks, no consideration of SAT or ACT scores, and a single filing period from October 1 to November 30 with no early round.

Our guide to the UC application covers each piece, including how UC calculates its own GPA.

ApplyTexas and the Texas Flagships

With one ApplyTexas profile, students can apply to any Texas public university and to many Texas community colleges and private universities. Both flagships now accept either ApplyTexas or the Common App, so out-of-state students can usually stay on the Common App.

• UT Austin accepts the Common App or ApplyTexas for fall 2027. Its early action deadline is October 15 (supplemental materials by October 22), and its regular deadline is December 1 (materials by December 10). Applicants write one essay on a topic of their choice, 500–650 words, which the Common App personal essay satisfies, plus two required short answers of about 250–300 words: why they're interested in their first-choice major, and which activity they're most proud of. UT Austin also asks applicants to send at least one official SAT or ACT score.
• Texas A&M accepts the Common App or ApplyTexas and says plainly that "the application you choose will not affect your admission decision." The application period for College Station is August 1 to December 1, 2026, with additional documents due by December 15.

Because UT Austin's first short answer is about the intended major, the choice of major is a bigger strategic decision there than at many colleges. Our guide to UT Austin and Texas A&M for private school and out-of-state students covers majors, holistic review, and the limit on nonresident admissions.

Florida's Public Universities

Florida families should know that the University of Florida accepts first-year applications only through the Common App. UF also asks U.S. high school students to list their courses and grades in STARS, its self-reported academic record system (formerly the SSAR), "exactly as they appear" on the transcript. UF states that it superscores the SAT, ACT, and CLT.

Each Florida public university sets its own platform and requirements, so check each one's admissions site before assuming the Common App covers it. Our guide to UF, FSU, and the University of Miami compares three of the most popular choices.

The Coalition App

The Coalition for College runs its application on the Scoir platform, with more than 150 member colleges. Its members commit to making college affordable and to helping students graduate on time. If a Coalition member on your list also accepts the Common App, your student can usually stay on one platform. Check each college's admissions page to see which applications it takes.

Colleges with Their Own Applications

A small number of colleges run their own systems. MIT uses its own application portal rather than the Common App, with an Early Action deadline of November 1 and a Regular Action deadline of January 4, and it requires the SAT or ACT. Georgetown, long known for its own application, now lets students use either the Georgetown Application or the Common App; alumni interviews are, in Georgetown's words, "a key part" of its process, and its Early Action and Regular Decision deadlines are November 1 and January 1.

Policies like these change, as Georgetown's shows. Confirm each college's platform on its own admissions site every fall.

When a College Accepts More Than One Application

Many colleges accept two or more platforms. Choose whichever fits the rest of the list, usually the Common App, and use it consistently. Never submit to the same college through two platforms. Colleges that accept several applications typically say they have no preference, and Texas A&M says so outright.

Staying Organized Across Platforms

The families who stay calm in November are the ones who built a tracker in August. For each college, record:

1. The platform and the admission plan (Early Decision, Early Action, Regular Decision, or rolling).
2. The application deadline and any separate deadline for supplemental materials or financial aid forms.
3. Every essay and short-answer question, with its word limit.
4. The testing policy, and whether your student will send scores.
5. Recommendations required, and who's writing them.
6. Whether grades must be self-reported, and where.
7. The application fee or fee waiver.

Two small habits help too. Keep a copy of the transcript at hand, because the UC, UF, and some Common App colleges ask for self-reported grades. And use one personal email address that your student checks every day; the Common App itself suggests a personal address, since school accounts sometimes filter out college mail.

Final Thought

The application platforms are containers. What colleges care about is what goes in them: the transcript, the activities, the essays, and the recommendations. Knowing each system's rules early keeps the logistics from crowding out the work that actually shapes decisions.

For the full senior-year sequence, see the college application process, explained, and our guide to Early Decision and Early Action for choosing a plan at each college. Our 12th grade college planning keeps every platform, deadline, and essay on one calendar.