BlueBic Online Admissions vs Common App

BlueBic Online Admissions is a digital admissions portal for schools, covering the process from inquiry to matriculation. Schools can publish branded application forms with custom fields for intake needs, medical histories, and emergency contacts. Parents can upload documents from a phone or computer and pay application or entrance exam fees online through Paystack, cards, or bank transfers, with digital receipts. Its computer-based testing tool supports timed questions, randomized choices, and instant scoring, with exams available on-site or remotely using access codes. Applicant records move through review and decision stages, with SMS and email updates to parents. After acceptance and payment of a commitment fee, the system can create a student profile, assign a classroom arm, and generate an admission number. It also lists duplicate detection and multi-branch intake. The portal works on Android, iOS, and web. BlueBic lists a free plan and a free trial; the Service Plan is 1,200 NGN as a one-time purchase, billed per active student per term (4 months), and the Product Plan is 80,000 NGN as a one-time purchase, billed per school per term (4 months).

Common App helps students explore colleges, submit applications, and navigate the admissions process. It serves first-year and transfer applicants and lets students explore more than 1,100 Common App colleges. Its first-year guidance covers gathering materials, setting up an account, adding colleges, engaging supporters, reviewing requirements, planning essays, and submitting an application. Accounts can roll over from year to year, and answers in My Common Application can be saved across years. Students who complete a profile may receive non-binding direct admission offers from participating colleges before submitting an application; applying through the program to colleges offering those admissions is free. Otherwise, each college decides whether to charge an application fee and the amount, and many colleges do not charge one. Qualifying students may be eligible for a Common App fee waiver, subject to participating colleges’ policies. The nonprofit membership organization describes its focus as access, equity, and integrity in college admission. Common App is available on web, Android, and iOS. It lists integrations with CRM and SIS providers, school counseling platforms, and embedded services including SlideRoom and UStrive.