How to enter courses on the Common App

RReaders in Stanford's admissions office treated even the current-year courses section of the Common App as a piece of writing, read for what it says about the applicant. Most students fill it in quickly, copying whatever their school's registration system calls a class, and a reader moving through dozens of files a day receives a list of cryptic codes, long catalog titles and the occasional study hall.

Readers notice, and they notice early, because this section sits close to where most of them start reading. In that office a clean course list was treated as a small courtesy, and readers tend to like applicants who make their job easier. Getting it right is quick work that very few applicants think to do.