<p>1) When colleges have multiple parts to the applications (app, scholarship app, essay, recommendations, portfolio, GRE scores), do you try to submit everything at once, or piecemeal? What about when the schools prefer online submittion of the basic app? When they want the recs mailed directly from the recommender, do you make sure to submit the rest of your application before you ask people for recommendations? Or does it matter if your recs show up before your application?</p>
<p>2) How far in advance do you ask for recommendations?</p>
<p>3) How long did you/are you planning to work on your essay?</p>
<p>As you can tell, I'm worried about the timing of everything- I'm nearly at my final list of what schools I'm going to apply to (MICA, Pratt, RIT, SCAD, BU, & SMFA/Tufts most likely), and am on the first draft of my portfolio, but have not started my essays yet, and am not sure when I should be asking people for recommendations or when I should be submitting the basic applications since most schools want them online.</p>
<p>It shouldn't matter if parts of your application show up before others -- the school will create a file for you and will just drop everything new into the file. I'd advise calling the program a week or two ahead of the deadline, though, just to make sure everything got where it should have.</p>
<p>I asked for recommendations around the last week of September last year. There's no hard and fast rule, but be courteous and realize that your professors are probably very busy people, and they'd appreciate a heads-up (...so they can procrastinate for the next two months).</p>
<p>I would note that it's not at all a bad thing to submit online applications before the deadline.</p>
<p>ok, so the plan is....
1) ask for recommendations. I'm planning to give each recommender a list of schools, deadlines, any specific instructions (whether to give to me or send it in), and a mini-portfolio to show them what I've been working on since I left their classes.
2) write essays
3) fill out online applications
4) complete and send in all the supplemental requirements (portfolio, essay if not included in online app, resume, financial aid/scholarships apps) together
5)send out reminders to my recommenders
6) call schools to verify that all materials have been recieved</p>
<p>Sound good? Anything out of order there?</p>