Overview

On the main college tab you will find information about application due dates, application price, standardized testing information, and much more. Some will also state if they give additional scholarship if you apply by a certain date. Every college is different in these areas so check each college you add to your list. 

Overview

This is the section where you will find specific college questions and supplemental essay. For more information on how to write a supplemental essay, click the button below.

College Essays

Overview

This section allows students to invite teachers to submit their letters of recommendation. Before students request a letter of recommendation through Common App, they MUST ask their teacher (in-person if possible), with the appropriate form. Please see the letter of recommendation page for more information on this process.

Letters of recommendation

FERPA Release

Before you are able to invite anyone to write you a letter of recommendation, you will have to complete the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) release authorization process. Read through the release and follow the instructions. As you complete this section, you will be asked to waive your right to review all recommendations and supporting documents. Admissions teams ask you to waive your right as it gives the individuals completing your recommendations the ability to be honest in their letters. If you do not waive this right, your letter of recommendation may not be considered as highly in the admissions process. This process only needs to be completed once.

Overview

This section is where you will review and submit your application. If you indicated that you are eligible for fee waivers you will not have to complete a payment to submit your application. If you are not eligible for fee waivers, you will need to pay for your application to be submitted at this stage. Remember, the application fee will be listed under the "College Information". You will need to go through this process with each college on your list.

• Personal Information 
• Address
• Contact Details
• Demographics
• Language
• Geography and Nationality
• Common App Fee Waiver

Most of these sections should be quite self-explanatory. If you do not currently have a permanent home address, or do not know if you qualify for the fee waiver, please connect with your counselor. If you are enrolled in educational benefits, you qualify for fee waivers.

The family section is comprised of the following sub-tabs...

• Household
• Parent 1
• Parent 2
• Sibling

If you have limited information about one or both of your parents, you will be able to indicate that when completing this section. You will also be asked to indicate your parent's marital status.

The family section is comprised of the following sub-tabs...

• Current or Most Recent Secondary/High School
• Other Secondary/High Schools
  • You will input whatever school you graduate from in the Lakeville district, and any other out-of-district schools
  • Ex. If you start at LSHS and graduate from LOA, you will input LOA as your secondary school
• Colleges & Universities
  • This includes PSEO or College in the Schools courses
  • Concurrent / Dual enrollment courses are taken through Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU)
  • You can leave the "degree earned" section blank, unless you completed enough classes to receive a degree
• Grades
  • Your exact, weighted class rank can be found on your unofficial transcript
  • We use a 4.0 grading scale in Lakeville and the grades are weighted
• Current or Most Recent Year Courses
  • If you are applying your senior year, you will input all of the classes you are taking that year from first and second semester
  • You will be able to indicate if these classes were taken during first semester, second semester, or all year.
• Honors
• Community-Based Organizations
  • If you are enrolled in CollegePossible, this is where you will indicate your involvement. 
• Future Plans
  • This is not a commitment to a future plan, just a place to indicate where you could potentially see yourself.

You can add up to 10 activities in this section. These activities can include arts or music, clubs, community engagement, family responsibilities, hobbies, sports, work or volunteering, or other experiences that have been meaningful to you. Take advantage of this section by using "power words" when describing your involvement in these activities (ex. collaborated with classmates on ___ or developed a system for ____). 

NOTE: Colleges will notice if you are exaggerating your commitments. Be transparent about your time commitments and participation.

See the video below for more information on the activities section.

The writing section is where you will choose your Personal Statement Prompt and input your essay. You also have the option here to write a supplemental essay about personal circumstances you feel an admissions team should know about that has affected your journey. For more information on college essays, please visit the college essay page.

College Essay

This section only needs to be completed if it is required by an institution (ex. University of Minnesota Twin Cities). Here are some helpful tips for completing this section...

• You can access a copy of your unofficial transcript through Infinite Campus
• You can select multiple school transcripts to upload courses from (Ex. PSEO or College in the School Courses). Scroll down on the pop up to find "Add courses from another transcript"
• Grading Scale is A-F
• Lakeville uses a semester system
• If a class is a full year, use both semester boxes, otherwise you can leave one blank. We do not use final grades at Lakeville schools so that box can be left blank.
• Check your transcript for semester credits

NOTE: Any classes taken in 8th grade that count towards high school credit are recorded under the "Other Courses" tab. You will select your high school as the school in this section.