The University of Montana is already reaping benefits of joining with Common Application, an online platform that enables students to apply at colleges and universities around the world.

Emily Ferguson-Steger Director of UM Undergraduate Admissions shared her enthusiasm for the program.

“The University of Montana is so excited to be the first public university in the state of Montana to join the Common Application,” said Ferguson-Steger. “The Common Application is a nation and world wide service that empowers students to apply through a single application portal to more than 800 colleges and universities over 20 different countries.”

Ferguson-Steger explained why UM or any other Montana institutions haven’t used the service until now.

“Due to the fact that the Common Application requires an essay and letters of recommendation, and as an institution that is access-based and we don’t require the same thing, we were a little leery about it, but the Common Application has really grown to meet institutions like the University of Montana, so now that is not an option that we do not have to require for applicants, so as soon as that happened, we were very excited to partner with them.”

Ferguson-Steger said UM has already benefited from the application portal.

“We were able just to turn it on, but we already have 30 admitted students from this already, and a handful of those are international students, as well. It is really showing how it brings the university and all we have to offer across the globe. We’ve been using it for just over a month, now.”

That’s an average of one newly admitted student per day since the Common Application system was introduced at UM.

To visit UM’s Common Application page, click here.

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