Nov 22
Aug 10, 2020
Lake Superior State University Adds Common App to Application Process
Sault Ste. Marie, MI — Students applying to Lake Superior State University now can do so through The Common Application (Common App), a single online undergraduate application for approximately 900 member colleges and universities worldwide. According to Common App, more than one million students apply to college annually through it; cumulatively, three million-plus applicants, teachers, counselors, and advisers across all 50 U.S. states and 20 countries around the globe utilize the digital platform each year.
“We constantly strive to make the application process as helpful, intuitive, and simple as possible for students, their families, guidance counselors, secondary-school teachers, and other high school officials. And Common App streamlines things wonderfully,” said LSSU President Rodney S. Hanley. “Of course we want LSSU applicants who are accepted to enroll with us, but we also know that students apply to more than one school. As of Aug. 1, they can apply to LSSU and any other member institution in one fell swoop through Common App.”
The portal offers several additional benefits, added Fred Pierce III, dean of admissions and marketing at LSSU. “It gives people opportunities to explore schools they might not otherwise have contemplated. It amasses additional resources, such as financial aid and scholarship opportunities, that supplement the extensive compilation on our website and other materials,” he said. And Common App houses Reach Higher, a college access initiative, especially for underrepresented students, started by former first lady Michelle Obama during her years in the White House. One-third of the more than one million students who annually apply to college through Common App are first-generation. “That’s important to LSSU, since 60 percent of our students are first-generation,” Pierce said.
“Students can still apply through LSSU’s admissions website, which we’re proud of. Or they can use the Common App. Whatever tool applicants like better, that’s what they should use. And both are free for LSSU applicants. The end result is the same: entering into our system in an efficient, navigable way,” Pierce said.
Founded in 1975, Common App “is a not-for-profit organization supporting all students, and those who support them, at every stage of the application process through its powerful online college application platform, financial aid and scholarship information, application guides, and more,” including virtual mentors, counselor resources, and online portfolios, according to its press materials.