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If you haven’t filed your college application by now, you’re really under the gun. Many colleges have a deadline of this Friday, December 30. End of the year; end of the line. A few will have January deadlines, but after that, you’re officially late.

Is there any way you can possibly fill out 6 or 7 applications with less than a week to go?

Yes, if you use a little ingenuity and apply some of that elbow grease you’ve been putting off.

How to Copy the Common Application

Did you know you can make copies of your Common Application form? If you’re applying to any of the more than 400 colleges that use this form, you can duplicate it and then personalize certain fields for specific colleges. It’s best to personalize your college application as much as possible, but you’re running out of time.

1. Apply to one school using the Common Application.

2. Follow this link to the copy page and log in.

3. Click the “replicate” link. A copy of your college application should appear.

4. The dropdown box on the right lets you move between the two applications – the original and your copy.

5. Both applications will be available from your regular log in.

Do this for all the colleges on your list that accept the Common Application. The more you have from that list, the faster you’ll be able to complete the application process. Just don’t keep repeatedly applying to Common App colleges. Know if they’re the right colleges for you.

Other Steps to Complete Your College Application Quickly

Here are three easy steps to reduce your college admissions paperwork.

1. Cut and paste. This may seem like common sense, but don’t forget that you can cut information like name, address, awards won, etc., from one online application and paste it into another. You will still have to personalize some of this, as one aspect of your high-school career may be more important to one college than it is to another, but at least you won’t have to retype all your data.

2. Snap Apps. Did a college email you a snap app, an easy to complete application already partially filled in for you? While these are not ideal, you can generally change or edit autocompleted fields and focus on those the college can’t complete without your input.

3. Standard Admissions Essay Questions. Certain essay questions are common when it comes to college applications. Find one or two of them, write the essay you need and then change pertinent details (like saying Michigan when you mean MichiganState, or talking about their great engineering program when the college is primarily known for its philosophy department). Tweak you essay as necessary, but borrow heavily where you can.

Don’t be surprised if you still get a few rejections, even from the Snap App colleges. Applications and admissions essays require a great deal of thought and ingenuity, but better to submit a few well-constructed if hastily compiled applications than none at all. Just remember, if the college offers you an interview opportunity, take it. It may give you a better chance to shine.

Just don’t prepare for it at the last minute!

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