Your personal information -- such as your name, address, date of birth, phone number and email address -- are required on college applications. Some applications may request more information than others. You may also be required to provide your Social Security Number, ethnicity, gender and birthplace. Other biographical information you may be asked to provide includes your military status, if you are a first-generation college student, your parents' education levels, if you are an English language learner and if you are a U.S. citizen.
You may be asked about your family's size, income and if you work. You may also be asked if you work part-time or full-time as well as about other information related to the activities you are involved in outside of school. This can help advisors determine the course load you can best handle due to your extracurricular responsibilities and can help determine if you are eligible for scholarships or grants. (You should contact the college directly to see if you also need to fill out a separate financial aid application in addition to your admission application.)
College applications generally ask you about your college and high school experiences. You may be asked to provide the name and locations of schools you have attended, degrees or certifications you received and the dates you attended. You may be asked for your grade point average or class standing as well. You will be asked about your outside activities, such as volunteering, working or interning, as well as information about honors and awards you have received. This information provides the admissions team with a better-rounded picture of who you are and what your passions and commitment are.
You will need to declare a major on your application for some colleges. Some universities allow freshmen students to declare a major at a later time, but you may have to indicate that you are not ready to do so at the time of application. You will also be asked which tests you have taken to help determine your admission decision, such as the ACT, SAT, TOEFL or IELTS (for English language learners). In addition to all of the information provided in the application, you must write an essay or personal statement for each college you attend. The topics differ from college to college. You may also be asked to answer questions in paragraph format about topics similar to those in the essay. Topics typically include your goals and inspiration in life. Some colleges may ask you to submit other pieces of information to complete your application, such as letters of reference, a resume, transcripts from other colleges and schools you have attended and proof of residency or military status, for example.