Common App 2026-27: What Changed and How It Affects Your Test Scores

The Common App opened its 2026-27 application on Saturday, August 1, 2026, with more than 1,200 member colleges and universities. The update touches the Testing section, the Activities section and the member list. Two of the changes affect how you report AP and English proficiency test results.

This guide covers the cycle timeline, the account rollover, the Testing section updates, the TOEFL iBT score scale change, the new AP subjects, the renamed Activities section and the score-sending rules, which did not change. Every fact links to its official source. Where Common App has not published the detail of a field as of October 2026, this guide says so and points you to the instructions inside your account.

2026-27 Cycle Timeline

Key Dates

The old application closed a few days before the new one opened. The table lists the dates Common App published for the changeover.

What Rolls Over From 2025-26

You keep your existing username and password across cycles. Most of your answers carry into 2026-27, and a few items reset. The table shows the split from Common App's counselor webinar deck.

If you started an application in 2025-26, most of your work is already in place. Your college list and your answers in Profile, Family, Education, Testing, Activities, Writing and Courses & Grades carry over. Responses to questions Common App edited or removed do not, so open each section and fill any blank field. In My Colleges, answer each college's questions again, complete the FERPA release and re-send your recommender invitations. Add any test you sat after the rollover to the Testing section.

Application Deadlines

Common App's first-year application guide says each college determines its own requirements, including deadlines. The same guide points you to each college's information page in My Colleges for its deadlines. Check every deadline in your My Colleges list and on each college's admissions site, then plan your last SAT or ACT sitting so official scores arrive in time.

The Self-Reported Testing Section

How SAT and ACT Scores Are Entered

The Testing section holds scores you type in yourself. These entries are self-reported, not official. As of October 2026, Common App's public 2026-27 materials, the launch announcement and the counselor webinar deck, do not state how many SAT or ACT test dates you are allowed to list or how section scores are entered per sitting. Follow the on-screen instructions inside the Testing section for those details.

Use these steps when you enter any SAT or ACT result:

1. Open your official score report from College Board or ACT before you start.
2. Copy each total score and section score exactly as the report prints it.
3. Enter the test date shown on the report.
4. Read each college's testing policy before you decide whether to report a score at all.

If a college on your list is test-optional, check its entry in our list of test-optional colleges before you report. For each college's current requirement, use our college testing policy tracker for 2026-27. For how each exam delivers scores, read our guides to SAT score reporting and ACT score reporting.

English Proficiency Tests: Updated Fields

For 2026-27, Common App updated the testing fields for three English proficiency tests so students self-report their results more accurately. The three tests are:

• Duolingo English Test
• Pearson Test of English (PTE Academic)
• TOEFL iBT

Common App describes the change only as updated fields for accurate self-reporting. Its official materials do not spell out the new field mechanics as of October 2026. Common App does not carry over responses to questions it edited or removed, so check each of these entries even if you filled them in last cycle. Keep your official score report open while you work, and copy each value as printed.

Duolingo English Test

Neither the launch announcement nor the webinar deck says whether the 2026-27 Duolingo field takes a single test date or a best result across attempts. Common App lists the Duolingo English Test only among the three English tests with updated fields as of October 2026. Treat the field instructions inside your account as the rule.

If you took the Duolingo English Test more than once, pick the attempt you plan to send to colleges. Enter the results from the certificate for the same attempt, so your self-reported scores and your official report match. Follow each college's own instructions on which attempt to submit. Our guide to English test scores universities accept covers how colleges compare the Duolingo English Test, TOEFL and IELTS.

TOEFL iBT: The 1-6 and 0-120 Scales

ETS changed the TOEFL iBT score scale in January 2026. The table sets out the change as ETS describes it.

Common App lists TOEFL iBT among the three tests with updated fields. As of October 2026, its published materials do not state whether the form shows a separate box for each scale. Open your official ETS report, find the 1-6 score and the comparable 0-120 score, and enter whichever score or scores the Testing section asks for. Copy each value exactly. Harvey Mudd College, in guidance updated for the 2025 application process, says any discrepancy between self-reported and official test scores might affect a student's offer of admission.

PTE Academic

The PTE Academic fields were updated on the same basis as the Duolingo English Test and TOEFL iBT fields. Common App's published materials do not describe the new PTE fields in detail as of October 2026. Copy your results from your official Pearson report and follow the field labels inside the Testing section. If you sat PTE Academic more than once, enter the results from the report you plan to send.

AP and IB Entries

Common App added three new AP subjects to the list of tests you are allowed to report in the Testing section for 2026-27:

• AP Business with Personal Finance
• AP Cybersecurity
• AP Networking

Neither the launch announcement nor the webinar deck lists an IB change to the Testing section as of October 2026. Report IB results by following the on-screen instructions in the Testing section. If you have results in one of the new AP subjects, select it from the AP list rather than entering it under another subject. Your Testing answers from 2025-26 roll over, so add only the AP exams you took since.

Activities and Other Non-Testing Changes

Activities Is Now Activities and Experiences

The Activities section is renamed "Activities and experiences" for 2026-27. Common App revised the instructions to capture a broader range of commitments beyond high school. The launch announcement says the 2026-27 changes aim to make the application more welcoming to "independent learners," meaning learners who will be 23 or older by the end of the cycle year or who self-indicate they meet FAFSA's definition of independence. The webinar deck says the section lets you report time commitments for post-high school experiences more accurately. The table lists each change Common App announced for the section.

Your Activities answers roll over from 2025-26, so review each entry in the renamed section. Answers to questions Common App edited or removed do not carry over, so fill any field the rollover left blank. Leave the position field blank when no title applies, since the field is now optional. If you have work or other commitments after high school, recheck the time commitment you report for each one.

New Member Colleges

Common App added 64 new members for 2026-27, including 23 Illinois community colleges. Total membership now stands at more than 1,200 colleges and universities. Search for every college on your list in My Colleges, since a college outside Common App last year might be a member now. Your college list rolls over from 2025-26, so add any new member college you plan to apply to.

What Did Not Change

Self-Reported Scores Stay Unofficial

The Testing section remains self-reported. Harvey Mudd College, in guidance updated for the 2025 application process, requires official ACT or SAT score reports from depositing students who asked it to consider their scores. The same page says any discrepancy between self-reported and official test scores might affect a student's offer of admission and place in the class. Treat every number you type as a figure you must back with an official report.

SAT Score Choice

College Board's Score Choice still lets you choose which SAT scores to send, by test date. Score Choice does not apply to the free score sends you select at registration. College Board also notes "some colleges and scholarship programs require you to send all your scores." Each college sets its own score-use policy.

ACT Score Sending

ACT automatically sends your scores to the high school and colleges you selected when you registered. The ACT test fee includes reports for you, your high school and up to four colleges, if you give college codes when you register. To send more reports later, sign in to MyACT, request score reports from your dashboard and pay by credit card. The table lists ACT score report fees as of October 2026.

Where Each Step Happens

Common App collects your self-reported scores. The testing agencies still deliver the official ones. The table shows who handles each step.

Your Common App entries are self-reported, and official reports come from College Board or ACT. Each college decides which official reports it requires. Check each college's requirement before you pay for extra reports. For free-report counts and fees across all major exams, read our score sending strategy guide.

Checklist Before You Submit

Work through these steps before you submit to any college:

1. Log in with your existing username and password and confirm your college list and every My Common Application section rolled over: Profile, Family, Education, Testing, Activities, Writing and Courses & Grades.
2. Redo My Colleges: answer each college's questions, complete the FERPA release authorization and re-send recommender invitations, because My Colleges question responses do not roll over.
3. Review Activities and experiences, Writing and Courses & Grades, and fill any field left blank, since responses to edited or removed questions do not carry over.
4. Copy every SAT, ACT, AP, TOEFL, PTE and Duolingo result from the official report, digit for digit.
5. For TOEFL iBT, find the 1-6 scores, the CEFR level and the comparable 0-120 overall score on your ETS report before you open the Testing section.
6. Add AP Business with Personal Finance, AP Cybersecurity or AP Networking if you have results in them.
7. Read each college's testing policy, including whether it requires all scores.
8. Send official SAT scores through College Board and official ACT scores through MyACT when a college asks for them.
9. Record each college's deadline from My Colleges and the college's admissions site.

If a higher score would change what you report, plan one more sitting before your earliest deadline. Prepare with our free SAT practice tests or ACT practice tests. Both run in your browser with no signup required. Take one full test under timed conditions first, then use the results to pick the section you study next.

Sources

• Common App opens application to launch 2026-27 season
• What's new with Common App: 2026-27 first-year app updates for counselors and advisors (webinar deck, May 21, 2026)
• Application guide for first-year students (Common App)
• TOEFL iBT Score Scale Update: What You Need to Know (ETS Help Center)
• Self-Reported Test Scores (Harvey Mudd College Admission)
• Score Choice (College Board SAT Suite)
• ACT Test Scores: Sending Your Scores (ACT.org)
• The ACT Test: Fees (ACT.org)