Which Schools Use the Common App? The Rank-Ordered List (2026)

College
Written By Dr. Shemmassian

Discover which schools use the Common App, which don’t, and see them organized by ranking to streamline your college application strategy.

Read on for a list of schools that use the Common App

Which schools use the Common App overview

List of Common App schools (by ranking)

List of schools that do NOT use the Common App (by ranking)

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Which schools use the Common App overview

As your child begins the college search, she’ll be asked to write essays, submit test scores (e.g., ACT or SAT), supply demographic information, and more. Colleges differ from one another, and their application requirements vary. However, many colleges—including the nation’s most prestigious—require students to use the Common Application. 

The Common Application, or “Common App,” is currently accepted by over 900 colleges and universities, according to the application’s official website. The goal of the Common App, which was founded over 40 years ago by fifteen institutions, is to make the college application process more streamlined, transparent, and equitable for prospective students. During the 2025–2026 application cycle up to March 1, 2026, 9,423,621 applications were submitted by 1,429,747 unique applicants using the Common App; an increase of 2% since 2024–2025.

Essentially, this means that your child doesn’t have to fill out ten wildly different college applications; instead, they can send the same application to any school that accepts it. They can write a main essay—the Common App Essay—complete a single Common App Activities section, and enter their demographic information.

There’s a caveat, though: many schools that accept the Common App still require supplemental application materials. Yale, Haverford College, and some SUNY schools, for example, require two additional supplemental college essays beyond the Common App.

In addition, while many schools accept the Common Application, some don’t. Prestigious universities, such as MIT and those in the University of California (UC) system, have their own applications.

Some schools have started accepting the Coalition Application instead of the Common App. The Coalition Application was founded in 2015 by a group of 140 schools (now including 170) “to improve the college application process for all students, particularly those from historically under-represented groups.” Many highly regarded public institutions, such as Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland, use the Coalition Application. Other schools, such as Princeton, accept the Coalition Application in addition to the Common App.

To help you and your child plan the application season, we’ve developed comprehensive lists of schools that accept the Common App and those that don’t. They’re ordered according to the 2026 U.S. News & World Report college rankings, and cross-checked with the Common App’s member search tool.

As we compiled the list below, we came away with a few key observations:

  • Colleges affiliated with the U.S. military tend not to accept the Common Application.

  • Religiously affiliated colleges and universities tend not to accept the Common Application.

  • Some public universities don’t accept the Common Application—and are likely to use the Coalition Application instead.

  • Some colleges with a more STEM or technical focus—like MIT—choose not to accept the Common Application. 

  • Highly selective universities—Ivy League schools like Harvard and Cornell, for example—tend to accept the Common Application and other application types, like the Coalition application.

  • The majority of national universities and liberal arts colleges that are ranked in the top 100 by U.S. News (i.e., the schools listed below) accept the Common Application.

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List of schools that use the Common App (by ranking)

National universities

(Updated June 2026)

Liberal arts colleges

(Updated June 2026)

  • Williams College (1)

  • Amherst College (2)

  • Swarthmore College (4)

  • Bowdoin College (5) (tie)

  • Claremont McKenna College (7) (tie)

  • Pomona College (7) (tie)

  • Wellesley College (7) (tie)

  • Carleton College (10) (tie)

  • Harvey Mudd College (10) (tie)

  • Barnard College (13) (tie)

  • Davidson College (13) (tie)

  • Grinnell College (13) (tie)

  • Hamilton College (13) (tie)

  • Smith College (13) (tie)

  • Middlebury College (13) (tie)

  • Vassar College (13) (tie)

  • Wesleyan University (13) (tie)

  • Washington and Lee University (21) (tie)

  • Colgate University (22) (tie)

  • University of Richmond (22) (tie)

  • Bates College (24) (tie)

  • Colby College (24)

  • Haverford College (24)

  • College of the Holy Cross (27)

  • Macalester College (28)

  • Mount Holyoke College (29)

  • Bryn Mawr College (30) (tie)

  • Bucknell University (30) (tie)

  • Colorado College (30) (tie)

  • Lafayette College (30) (tie)

  • Denison University (34)

  • Franklin and Marshall College (35) (tie)

  • Occidental College (35) (tie)

  • Pitzer College (37) (tie)

  • Scripps College (37) (tie)

  • Skidmore College (37) (tie)

  • Soka University of America (37) (tie)

  • Spelman College (37) (tie)

  • Trinity College (37) (tie)

  • Trinity University (37) (tie)

  • Union College (44)

  • Dickinson College (45) (tie)

  • Furman University (45) (tie)

  • Kenyon College (45) (tie)

  • The University of the South (Sewanee) (45) (tie)

  • Connecticut College (50) (tie)

  • Hillsdale College (50) (tie)

  • St. Olaf College (50) (tie)

  • Wabash College (50) (tie)

  • Wheaton College (IL) (50) (tie)

  • Centre College (55) (tie)

  • Rhodes College (55) (tie)

  • Thomas Aquinas College (55) (tie)

  • DePauw University (58) (tie)

  • Gettysburg College (58) (tie)

  • Oberlin College (58) (tie)

  • St. Lawrence University (58) (tie)

  • Whitman College (58) (tie)

  • Principia College (63) (tie)

  • Reed College (63) (tie)

  • Lawrence University (65) (tie)

  • Agnes Scott College (67) (tie)

  • Kalamazoo College (67) (tie)

  • Wofford College (67) (tie)

  • Bard College (70) (tie)

  • Gustavus Adolphus College (70) (tie)

  • Muhlenberg College (70) (tie)

  • College of St. Benedict (73) (tie)

  • Hobart and William Smith Colleges (73) (tie)

  • Lake Forest College (75)

  • Allegheny College (76) (tie)

  • College of Wooster (76) (tie)

  • Earlham College (76) (tie)

  • Knox College (76) (tie)

  • Wheaton College (MA) (76) (tie)

  • Willamette University (76) (tie)

  • St Johns University (MN) (82) (tie)

  • Stonehill College (82) (tie)

  • Austin College (84) (tie)

  • Drew University (84) (tie)

  • Hope College (84) (tie)

  • St. Mary's College of Maryland (84) (tie)

  • Southwestern University (84) (tie)

  • St. John's College (MD) (84) (tie)

  • Ursinus College (84) (tie)

  • Washington and Jefferson College (84) (tie)

  • Beloit College (92) (tie)

  • Juniata College (92) (tie)

  • Washington College (92) (tie)

  • Whittier College (92) (tie)

  • Augustana College (96) (tie)

  • Hendrix College (96) (tie)

  • Lewis & Clark College (96) (tie)

  • Lycoming College (96) (tie)

  • Morehouse College (96) (tie)

  • Randolph Macon College (96) (tie)

  • St. Anselm (96) (tie)

  • St. John's College (NM) (96) (tie)

  • St. Mary’s College of Maryland (96) (tie)

  • Susquehanna University (96) (tie)

  • University of Puget Sound (96) (tie)

  • Hampden-Sydney College (107) (tie)

  • Patrick Henry College (107) (tie)

  • Sarah Lawrence College (109) (tie)

  • Transylvania University (109) (tie)

  • Illinois College (111) (tie)

  • Linfield University (111) (tie)

  • Luther College (111) (tie)

  • St. Norbert (111) (tie)

  • Hanover College (115) (tie)

  • Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (115) (tie)

  • Meredith College (115) (tie)

  • St. Michael’s College (115) (tie)

  • University of Minnesota Morris (115) (tie)

  • Westmont College (115) (tie)

  • Bennington College (121) (tie)

  • Cornell College (121) (tie)

  • Ohio Wesleyan (121) (tie)

  • St. Vincent College (121) (tie)

  • Westminster College (121) (tie)

  • Coe College (126) (tie)

  • College of the Atlantic (126) (tie)

  • Covenant College (126) (tie)

  • Goucher College (126) (tie)

  • Roanoke College (126) (tie)

  • Albion College (131) (tie)

  • Purchase College—SUNY (131) (tie)

  • University of Mary Washington (131) (tie)

  • Claflin College (135) (tie)

  • Concordia College Moorhead (135) (tie)

  • Eckerd College (135) (tie)

  • Emmanuel College (135) (tie)

  • Hollins University (135) (tie)

  • New College of Florida (135) (tie)

Need inspiration for your Common App personal statement? Click below for instant access to 25 full-length example essays including advanced breakdowns of why they resonate with admissions committees.

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List of schools that do not use the Common App (by ranking)

National universities

(Updated June 2026)

Liberal arts colleges

(Updated June 2026)

  • United States Naval Academy (3)

  • United States Air Force Academy (5) (tie)

  • United States Military Academy (West Point) (10) (tie)

  • Berea College (45) (tie)

  • Virginia Military Institute (65) (tie)

Dr. Shirag Shemmassian headshot

About the Author

Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on college admissions. For over 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into top programs like Harvard, Stanford, and MIT using his exclusive approach.

 

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How to Write an Amazing Common App Essay – Examples Included

How to Use the Common App Additional Information Section (Examples Included)

How to Stand Out on the Common App Activities Section (Example Included)

Dr. Shemmassian

Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and well-known expert on college admissions, medical school admissions, and graduate school admissions. For over 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into elite institutions.

https://www.shemmassianconsulting.com/about/author/shirag-shemmassian
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