Common App vs UC App

Number of Schools

This application is accepted by over 900 schools in the US. See this post here for the full list of schools, broken down by US state. Students can apply to a maximum of 20 schools using the Common App.

This application is accepted by the 9 undergraduate UC schools. There is no maximum of schools that students can apply to using the UC App.

Type of Schools

Students can apply to a wide range of schools, including both public and private schools. Some international schools outside the US can also be applied to using the Common App.

Students can apply to all 9 of the undergraduate UCs, including UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC Merced, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Santa Cruz.

Application Fee

There is no application fee to use the Common App platform. However, individual schools may charge processing fees, with fee waivers being offered to eligible students.  

The application fee is $70 per UC campus and $80 for international students. Fee waivers are available for up to 4 campuses.

Required Essay

Students are required to write an essay of 250-650 words. There are usually 7 essay prompts to choose from. 

Students are required to write 4 short essays (350 words max each) from 8 available prompts (Personal Insight Questions). 

Recommendation Letters

Students are typically required to submit recommendation letters from teachers or guidance counsellors before submitting an application through Common App.

Most schools do not require recommendation letters, although some programs or scholarships may require them. Students are advised to check each program's requirements before submitting an application.

Test Scores (SAT/ACT)

Some schools are test-optional or test-required. Students may submit scores individually to each college they are applying to depending on the requirements.

The UCs are test-blind. This means that although students may submit their standardized test scores, they will not be used in the decision-making process.

Application Deadline

Students can submit applications at different times for different schools according to the deadline (Early Action, Early Decision, Regular Decision).

Students submit one application to all the UCs at the same time. The application deadline is usually November 30th.

Scholarships

There is no central scholarship section. Students must apply to each college's scholarships separately.

There is a built-in UC Scholarship Section where students can apply to multiple UC scholarships directly.

Activities List

Up to 10 activities can be listed, however each one can only be described brirfly within 150 characters per activity. For tips on how to write the Common App activities list, see this post here.

Up to 20 activities can be listed and described within 350 characters per activity.