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There are 69 days left until the November 1, 2026 Early Decision and Early Action deadline. It falls on a Sunday this year, which means the practical deadline for anything requiring a school office is Friday, October 30.
Every year at Ivy-Way, the applications that go wrong in October rarely go wrong because of the essays. They go wrong because of the other half of the application — the school forms — the half that is not in the student’s hands at all. It sits with a homeroom teacher, an academic affairs office, and a counselor who may never have logged into Common App’s recommender system before.
If you attend a high school in Taiwan or mainland China, this is the part of the process that needs to start now. Here is the complete list of school forms, the order they must be submitted in, the three places students in Chinese-speaking systems reliably get stuck, and a ten-week countdown plan.
What “school forms” actually means
A complete Common App submission has two halves. The student fills out and submits one half. School officials submit the other half through the Common App recommender system at recommend.commonapp.org. According to Common App, there are ten school forms:
- School Profile
- School Report (which carries the transcript)
- Early Decision Agreement
- Fee Waiver
- Counselor Recommendation
- Optional Report 1 and 2
- Mid-Year Report
- Final Report
- Teacher Evaluation
- Other Evaluation
The governing rule: each college determines which forms it requires. Two colleges with identical November 1 deadlines can want completely different paperwork. Check requirements college by college in My Colleges rather than assuming a single checklist covers everything.
Common App uses single submission — “one and done.” A counselor uploads a document once and the system distributes it to every college that requires it. But note a detail that catches families out every year: transcripts, recommendations, and school forms are only sent to colleges when the student submits their own Common App. A teacher finishing early does not mean the college has anything.
Three structural gaps in Chinese-speaking high schools
No dedicated college counselor. In American high schools, the college counselor is a full-time role. In Taiwan and mainland China, the equivalent teacher is usually also handling career guidance, student welfare, and domestic exam preparation. Your Common App “counselor” does not have to be the head of guidance — it can be your homeroom teacher, an international division director, or any school official who knows you well. What matters is that this person is willing to log in, sign, and click submit.
Transcripts issued only in Chinese. Colleges want the officially issued record in its original language plus an official English translation. Several universities state plainly that applicants may not translate their own documents. Stanford recommends asking an English teacher or other school official to translate. Cornell accepts translations done by a teacher or school official. The University of California accepts translations by certified translators familiar with educational records. The safest route in practice: have a school English teacher translate, then have the academic affairs office stamp and certify it.
School office calendars do not match the US application season. Taiwanese high schools open in September, and the first two weeks are the busiest of the term. A request for an English transcript filed in mid-October frequently will not clear in time for November 1. File the request in writing during the first week of term.
Step one: the FERPA release authorization
Students often do not realize that Common App will not let you invite a counselor or teacher until you have completed the FERPA Release Authorization. You will find it under My Colleges → Recommenders and FERPA.
FERPA is the US law protecting the privacy of education records. It gives you the right to review your letters of recommendation after you enroll. Common App asks whether you want to waive that right.
Waive it. Waiving signals to colleges that you do not intend to read your letters, which reassures them the letters are candid. Some recommenders will decline to write for a student who does not waive. The decision becomes difficult to change once you submit your first application, so decide deliberately rather than clicking through.
Four recommender roles — and what to do without a counselor
Common App supports four recommender types on the first-year application: Counselor, Teacher, Other recommender, and Advisor. An Advisor — an independent consultant, for example — does not submit any forms; the role exists so they can follow your progress. One person can hold more than one role using the same email address.
If your school genuinely has no one who can serve as counselor — homeschooled and self-directed learners, for instance — Common App maintains a dedicated path for this situation. Contact Common App applicant support directly and explain your educational setting in the Additional Information section. Do not leave it blank, and do not attach the name of a teacher who does not know you.
Transcripts, School Profile, and reporting your GPA
Transcript. A complete academic record from grade 9 through the most recent completed term, in the original language with an English translation, issued and submitted by the school.
School Profile. This is the document explaining what kind of school you attend — curriculum structure, grading scale, where graduates go, whether GPA is weighted. Most Taiwanese and mainland high schools do not have one, and it is quietly the single most valuable page you can add. Without it, an admissions officer has no way to interpret what “rank 15 of 40” means at your school. Offering to help your school draft a one- to two-page English version is legitimate, useful work.
GPA and class rank. Per Common App’s guidance: if your school does not rank, select “none” from the dropdown. If your school does not calculate a cumulative numerical GPA, or uses a scale not offered in the menu, leave the field blank — it is not required for submission. If your school calculates both weighted and unweighted values, report the weighted one. Explain anything unusual in the Additional Information prompt in the Writing section.
The international student supplement
In the Testing section, Common App asks whether promotion within your educational system is based on standard leaving examinations administered by a state or national examination board. Answering “Yes” opens a Senior Secondary Leaving Examinations subsection where you can list up to ten examinations and choose from thirty examination boards.
In Taiwan’s mainstream high school system, graduation is determined by school credits — the GSAT and subject-specific tests are university entrance examinations, not leaving examinations — so most students in the local system answer “No.” Students in IB or A-Level programs generally answer “Yes.” Confirm with your school before selecting.
The Early Decision Agreement takes three signatures
An ED application requires the ED Agreement to be signed by the student, a parent or legal guardian, and the counselor. The parent receives an invitation link, enters their email address, reads, signs, and submits. The counselor signs and submits from their own account. Responsibility for the final submission of the ED Agreement rests with the counselor.
If your counselor is not working online, you must print the agreement, collect every signature, and hand it to the counselor to send directly to the college. If a parent has no email address, the online parent signature is not required. Realistically this loop takes five to ten days. Do not start it on October 30.
Submission order and the Mid-Year Report
Common App enforces one hard sequence: the School Report must be submitted before the Mid-Year Report, Optional Report, or Final Report can be submitted. Out of order, the system simply will not accept them.
The Mid-Year Report should go out as soon as first-semester grades are available. In Taiwan, first-semester grades are typically finalized in mid-to-late January, putting the real submission window in late January or early February. One warning that matters: the Common App recommender system does not send reminders about these forms. When a Mid-Year Report is missed, it is almost always because nobody had it on a calendar. Put it on yours now.
The ten-week countdown
| Timing | What has to happen |
|---|---|
| Late August (this week) | Complete the FERPA release authorization; decide who your counselor will be |
| Week 1 of September | File a written request for Chinese and English transcripts; formally invite your counselor and two teachers |
| Weeks 2–3 of September | Confirm required forms college by college; help your school assemble a School Profile |
| End of September | English transcript translated, stamped, and certified |
| Weeks 1–2 of October | Start the three-way ED Agreement signature loop |
| Week 3 of October | Confirm your counselor has *submitted*, not merely uploaded |
| Last week of October | Student submits the Common App — only now do the documents transmit |
| Late January – early February | Remind your counselor to submit the Mid-Year Report |
Five mistakes we see every year
- Inviting teachers before signing FERPA. The system blocks it and you lose a week.
- Assuming an uploaded document has been delivered. Nothing transmits until the student submits.
- Translating your own transcript. Most colleges will reject it and ask for a new one.
- Skipping the School Profile. Your grades arrive without any context to read them in.
- Forgetting the Mid-Year Report. No reminder is sent, and a missing report can hold up final confirmation of your admission.
The bottom line
Applying to a US university is not a solo project. Essays can be finished in a late night. Transcripts, signatures, and forms require three to five adults to move at the right moment. You have 69 days, which is enough — provided you start this week.
Ivy-Way’s counselors handle hundreds of school-form packages for students in Taiwan and mainland China each year, including drafting English School Profiles for high schools, walking academic affairs offices through the Common App recommender system, and tracking form requirements college by college. If you are not sure your school is ready, get in touch.
