Chapman University

The Common Application –

(CA4)A Tutorial for Transfer Students

Spring/Fall 2014

System RequirementsOnly the following operating systems and browsers are supported:

PC (Windows Vista/7)• Do NOT use Google Chrome!• Current version of Firefox• Internet Explorer 9 or higher

Mac (OS X Tiger / Leopard / Snow Leopard)• Do NOT use Google Chrome• Current version of Firefox• Safari 5.1 or higher

Regardless of browser, please make sure the following browser settings are correct:• Javascript must be enabled• Cookies must be enabled• Popup blockers must be disabled

Other Software needed: To view and print PDF files we recommend Adobe Reader 10 or higher. While PDF files should work with most other PDF viewers, The Common App can only guarantee full compatibility and support for Adobe Reader 10 or higher.

Email: If your email offers a whitelist, please add the following address: appsupport@commonapp.net

Technical Problems/Issues

1st Tip for completing your Common Application: Required responses are marked with a red asterisk * You will not

be allowed to proceed until these are addressed and/or corrected.

Email communication you receive from The Common Application’s technical support team will come from

appsupport@commonapp.net

Please be sure to add this email address to your address book and/or safe list to prevent the messages from being blocked

or marked as "spam." This is especially important for AOL users.

Make sure your email address is kept accurate so that you can receive important information about deadlines and other

admission information from the Common App or your selected institutions.

Application DeadlinesFor Transfer Applications

• Spring 2014 = October 15, 2013This is a postmarked deadline for ALL materials to be receivedLate Spring apps will be reviewed on a space & funds available basis

• Fall 2014 = March 15, 2014*1. Wait until your Fall 2013 grades are posted before applying for the following

Fall2. March 15 is a postmark deadline for ALL materials to be received3. Late Fall apps will be reviewed on a space & funds available basis

You must submit your application online.

If you are having difficulties with online submission :

1. Check The Common Application’s Help Center Knowledgebase2. Call the Office of Admission at 714-997-6711 or 1-888-CU-APPLY we

will assist in any way we can.3. If you have been unable to resolve issue, please email

appsupport@commonapp.net, and they will address the situation.

Application Check List • ACCESS all materials through commonapp.org.

• COMPLETE The Transfer Common Application, Chapman University Writing Supplement and $65 application fee requirements.

• INVITE an Academic Evaluator through the Assign Recommenders section onCommonApp.org. You must assign an Academic Evaluator (aka recommender). That recommender can be anyone but a relative.  Your recommender can then either submit their letter through the on-line Common App form OR they can mail in their own letter on their own letterhead to the Office of Admission.  Only one letter is required.

• INVITE a Registrar through the Assign Recommenders section onCommonApp.org. You must assign a Registrar (aka college official-counselor, mentor, registrar).  The Registrar Report is NOT  required for applicants applying to Chapman but CommonApp will require you to assign an advocate/school official that Chapman could contact should they have questions.

• SEND official college transcripts and high school transcripts(if applicable), SAT or ACT with Writing scores (if applicable) and available AP/IB scores. If at the time you hit submit on your application you have less than 24 college units completed, an official SAT /ACT score is required. If at the time you hit submit on your application you have less than 60 college units completed, your official final high school transcript is required.

• COMPLETE the Art Supplement via SlideRoom through CommonApp.org if required by your major. (Art, Dance, Music, Theatre, and any major in the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.)

• CONTACT the Office of Admission if you have questions or concerns. 714-997-6711 or 1-888-CU-APPLY.

• REVIEW your application thoroughly to make sure you’re happy with your efforts.

• SUBMIT your complete application to Chapman.

The Common Application (CA4)Step by step

A. Fill out The Common Application

B. Fill out the Chapman University Writing Supplement

C. Complete the Art Supplement linked from The Common App on SlideRoom (if applying to Art, Dance, Music, Theatre, or any major within the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts)

D. Submit Common App, Pay the Application Fee & Sign Common App (type in your name) and press submit

E. Submit Chapman University Writing Supplement – Verify, Sign (type in your name) and press submit

F. Submit the Art Supplement (if applying to Art, Dance, Music, Theatre, or any major within the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts)

Ready to Begin!

First: Create an Accounthttps://controlcenter.commonapp.org/Login

Second: My Colleges• Under My Colleges, click on College Search • On Criteria page, type Chapman University

• On Result list, place a check mark, then click Add• Next, click on Result List

• Repeat with the names of all your colleges

Third: Getting Started

• The Dashboard Tab shows your progress

. yellow circles mean ‘pending’

Getting Started (continued)• Click My Colleges tab to access college supplements

My Colleges - Chapman University• Click on the Questions tab & you will find 5 sections:

As you complete each of these 5 sections, you will notice green check marks appear to the right, and finally on the Questions tab to the left when you are ready to move on to…

My Colleges - Chapman University• An Art Supplement Submission is Required for all Talent Majors

Under My Colleges, from the Questions Tab, on the General page

you will find the following question:“Do you intend to submit

an Art Supplement so that your special talent in one or more of

the arts will be considered as part of the admission process to Chapman University?”

Important: You MUST answer YES to this question, or you will not be shown an

Art Supplement Tab and you will be unable to apply to any of these majors:

Art * Dance * (Any Major in Dodge) * Music * Theatre

Assign Recommenders: FERPA

Complete the FERPA

Authorization:Only then will you be able to

send invitations to your

recommenders via The Common Application. Click ‘Save’ and you will be provided

the following form…

Recommender Invitations: Evaluator

INVITE an Academic Evaluator through the Assign Recommenders section on The Common Application. You must assign an Academic Evaluator (aka recommender). That recommender can be anyone but a relative.  Your recommender can then either submit their letter through the on-line Common App form OR they can mail in their own letter on their own letterhead to the Office of Admission.  Only one letter is required.

For each person invited you must:1. Click Send Invite2. Click Assign

Recommender Invitations: Registrar

INVITE a Registrar through the Assign Recommenders section on The Common Application:You must assign a Registrar (college official, counselor, mentor, or registrar).  The Registrar Report itself is NOT required for applicants to Chapman, but The Common Application will require you to assign a school official that Chapman could follow up with should they find they have questions. You will not be allowed to proceed to submit without inviting the Registrar(s) & Recommender(s) via The Common App!

*Send a separate email to the Registrar(s) to let them know that you will be requesting

a hard copy of the transcript for Chapman through their school’s official channels.

Be sure to follow through with these order(s) with the Registrar’s Office at each of your schools.

Assign Recommenders: … Forms

If you have fewer than 60 transferable semester credits completed the moment you hit ‘Submit’

(do not count current semester courses)Then you must send in your Final High School

Transcript. The PDF ‘offline form’ will print with the

Common Application ID# in the upper right hand corner as well as at the bottom. Please include form when requesting your official

transcript for Chapman University. Receiving this form along with an official transcript

will help us get everything squared away as documents arrive at Chapman, even should the

High School Guidance Office chose not to complete it.

We do not require this form, but we do need the Final HS Transcript if you have fewer than 60 semester credits posted to your college transcripts.

Submission – Common App

Still Pending -Time to go to the Common App tab and begin!

Common AppThe Common Application itself has six sections:

Profile, Family, Education, Testing, Activities and Writing

From the Profile tab you will find 8 subsections, beginning with Personal Information and ending with Common App Fee Waiver. Click Continue when

ready to proceed further

Common App (continued)The six sections of The Common App:

Profile, Family, Education, Testing, Activities and Writing

Tip: Jump to the last tab, Colleges and Universities, where you will be able to tell us how many colleges

you have attended and list them in order. (Should you need to add an additional college, you will have to click this tab before you can add one.) Be sure to start with your current school, and then list the other in the order New/Current –

Last – Older – Oldest For example:

College 1 2013-2014College 2 2012-2013College 3 2011-2012College 4 2010-2011

…

Common App (continued)Profile, Family, Education (continued), Testing, Activities and Writing

Tip: Your Secondary School is your High School If more than one High School was attended – • Secondary school 1 is the one from which you graduated• Secondary school 2, the one before that …• Secondary school 3, the one before that, and so on ...

The Common Application requires you to list an Advisor –• Please list a counselor or advisor you have worked

with at your current college

Common App (continued)Profile, Family, Education, Testing, Activities and Writing

Be sure to fill in every required field indicated by a red asterisk *, including all dates.

You will still need to have official scores sent to Chapman if you have fewer than 24 credits posted to your transcripts.

Common App (continued)Profile, Family, Education, Testing, Activities and Writing

You will not be permitted to submit your application with an essay of fewer than 250 words and you will not be allowed to enter more than 650 words in the Personal Essay box. If you try, you will receive the following message:

You will need to earn green check marks for each of the following: 1. Personal Essay2. Disciplinary History3. Writing

Common App – (Submit Now or Later)

When ready to submit the

Common App portion of your Application, click

Start Submission. A PDF of your Common App

will be created.If this takes more than a few

minutes, you will need to update your browser to the

latest version, or go to another computer with a fully compatible operating system

& browser. (see slide 2)

You may submit this portion now, or move onto work on the Writing

Supplement & Art Supplement, and return to submit at another time. Note

that you will need to submit the Common App before you can submit

either the Writing Supplement or the Art Supplement.

My Colleges: Writing Supplement

There are four prompts in the Chapman Writing section of

the Common Application with a strict 200 word limit. You

will be unable to paste or type more than 200 words.

(200 words or fewer) *

The writing supplement also includes 15 questions requiring brief responses, such as ‘Please list three words to describe yourself’ and ‘What is a super power you wish you had?

My Colleges:Submission – Common App

Submission - Writing Supplement

Dashboard CheckMy Colleges

My Colleges:Art Supplement

If applying to Art, Dance, Music, Theatre, or any major within the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts,

you will see the following message from the Art Supplement tab:

If you do not see an Art Supplement tab, see slide 13 for help

Art Supplement / SlideRoom: FormsFind your major, click on the link, and create your SlideRoom account.

(Penelope Panther is applying to transfer into Film Production for Fall 2014)

Even though there is now a green check by Film Production Supplement … Penelope is NOT done …

she still has to upload her video from the Media tab.Continue to the next screen for further instructions regarding video essay.

Art Supplement/SlideRoom: Media(Penelope Panther is applying to transfer into Film Production for Fall 2014)

Media Upload(Penelope Panther is applying to transfer into Film Production for Fall 2014)

Having trouble? Contact SlideRoom email support: Monday – Saturday, 9am – 9pm Central Time

support@slideroom.com

Add a title to your media …

Art Supplement … (not ready to submit)

(Penelope Panther is applying to transfer into Film Production for Fall 2014)

The Common Application itself must be submitted before you will be able to submit your Art Supplement via SlideRoom

(There are a few exception)

Review & Submit: go to Dashboard

When everything is ‘Ready’ click ‘Submit’

You may print the PDF for your records, but do not send it to Chapman University in the

mail.

Final Review: This is the last chance to make changes to your application.

Be sure that everything looks right, and that nothing has been truncated.

Application Submission: PaymentThree steps: 1 Final Review (of PDF) - 2 Payment - 3 Signature

The Common App Fee Waiver question can be found on the last tab of The Common App (see slide 18)

Depending on how this section was completed, you would received one of these messages.

or

Application Submission: Signature

Application Submitted …But there is more to do!

Submission – Writing Supplement

After you click Start Submission, another PDF will be generated

for your review. Be sure that everything

is as it should be, put a check in the box,

and then click Continue.

You will then be taken to the Signature page

Writing Supplement Submission

Read statements and then fill in the check boxes, sign (type in your name),

and finally Submit the Writing Supplement.

Writing Supplement Submission

Click on the Dashboard &

My Colleges tabs to verify that you have

earned all the green checks marks

shown on this slide.

Talent Majors: Return to SlideRoom

SlideRoom will verify that your

Application has been

submitted.

Review and check for errors … then

pay and

submit.

Non-Talent MajorsMajors that do not require

an Art Supplement are now finished with

The Common Application online.

What Next? Have all of your supplemental materials sent to the Office of Admission

-Use the Application Checklist (Slide 5) as your guide.

How do I know you received my application?-After we have downloaded your materials from The Common Application Online (CA4), your file will enter the processing stage. A confirmation letter and a list of any missing documents will be sent after your application has been processed.

Note: Due to the high volume of applications it can take a significant amount of time before you receive confirmation from Chapman.

How do I know I submitted the application by the deadline?

-If your application & supplement are listed as “submitted” on the Common App website by the deadline, you will have made it on time. The date of submission is imprinted on all of The Common Application pages themselves, and those are the dates we use, not the date we process, or add it to your file, which can be much later.

Note: The Common App (CA4) is on GMT, Thus, submitting before 4:00 pm Pacific will guarantee the correct date prints on your

app

Do not send in a hard copy of your applicationDo not send unofficial documents

What Next? (continued)

How do I receive my username and password for WebAdvisor?-Some days after we have downloaded your materials from The Common Application Online, (CA4) your file will enter the processing stage. A letter will be sent via the US Mail to the address you provided on your application. This letter will contain a user-name and a password for our WebAdvisor system. If you have not received this information 4-6 weeks after submitting your application, please call the Chapman ServiceDesk at 714.997.6600 and provide your Date of Birth, Common App ID # and last four of SS# (if applicable). Allowing ample time for processing,you will be able to monitor the status of your documents in the Office of Admission.

Web Advisor still says my documents are missing but I already submitted them!-Normal processing time can take up to 4-6 weeks. If after that time items are still missing please call the Admission Office before re-sending materials.-Remember when mailing items to please list your full legal name and any additional identifying information.-Occasionally we receive unofficial, incomplete and/or illegible documents. It may be that WebAdvisor is ‘missing’ an item for one of these reasons. Please be ready to resend if requested.

How can I track my admission status changes through Web Advisor? Status reads “Application Complete/Pending Evaluation”= All required documents are

in and review of your file is taking place to establish your GPA and transferability of credits.

Status reads “Pending Decision” = Your application is with the committee and is being reviewed for an admission decision (this can take up to 6-8 weeks).

Status reads “Decision Reached” = A final decision has been made on your file. Please note we will only mail out admission decisions. Decisions will not be released via phone, web or through email.

Chapman University

&

The Common Application

I do hope that you found the tutorial helpful!Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance!

Christina Tardif 714.997.6711