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Common App opens for 2026-27, with Georgetown among 64 new members

The Common App opened on August 1, 2026 with more than 1,200 colleges. Georgetown joins this year, the activities section gets a new name, and independent applicants no longer have to list parent details.

By CV, founder of Stratia

Published · Opened

Official source: Common App, Jul 31, 2026 (opens in a new tab)

What happened#

On Saturday, August 1, 2026, the Common App opened for the 2026-27 season "with more than 1,200 colleges and universities worldwide," according to its announcement dated the day before.

What is new this year:

  • 64 new members, including 23 Illinois community colleges. Georgetown University and Yeshiva University are on the list.
  • Independent applicants. Anyone who will be "23+ years old by the end of the cycle year" or who meets FAFSA's definition of an independent student "will no longer provide demographic information" about parents or siblings, and can describe their household instead.
  • A renamed section. The activities section becomes "activities and experiences," with fields meant to capture commitments beyond high school.
  • Scholarship matching continues, after "matching nearly 1.5 million students" with scholarship opportunities last season.

What it means for a student#

If you are a senior applying for fall 2027, the application is open now. Fill in the parts that do not change school to school first: your activities, your family details, your main essay.

If Georgetown is on your list, you now have a choice. Its first-year page says "students can apply to Georgetown using either the Georgetown Application or the Common Application." Either way it still asks for its own writing supplement, two short essays and two long ones, so budget the time for those.

The new name for the activities section is small, but read it as permission. A job, caring for a family member, a project you ran on your own: if it took your time, it belongs there. List what you actually did.

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Sources

Last checked September 30, 2026. We add a dated note here when the story changes.

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