Advice for a neurotic mother

My son recently completed his Common App and requested that his high school transcripts and SAT scores be sent to the colleges he applied to. We did not realize that when he took his initial SAT in March, he had the four free scores automatically sent by College Board to four of his school choices. He re-took the SAT in October and did much better, so those scores have been selected to be sent. Our issue is this. In logging into his UCF account, under the application status, it shows they’ve received his test scores (the lower SAT scores from March), and are awaiting his high school transcripts. The updated SAT scores are on their way but aren’t showing up on his UCF account yet. Is there a possibility that if the high school transcript is received before the updated SAT scores, the college will start processing his application based on the information they have? Obviously, he self-reported his more recent SAT score on Common App. Apologies for sounding like the neurotic mom I have become during this process.

They could start processing. Your son can just email the admissions officer in charge of his region to say that updated tests scores are on the way and to use those for,his application instead. It won’t be a problem. If he already has an ID number from the college, he should include it in the email. And because it’s not the deadline yet, they would probably automatically update his application with the new test scores anyway. Don’t worry about this.

Yes they could. Hold those transcripts if you can till updated scores hit. Yes, you can contact the Admissions office, but once wheels start turning at these big schools that auto screen applications, it’s hard to stop them.

I would not trust any email to Admissions during this busy time of The year. I wouldn’t even feel comfortable with a follow up email after talking directly to the AO.

Sending an email is better than not sending one, IMO. When my D submitted an app with a big mistake, and didn’t realize until six weeks later, the AO responded to her email immediately. If the student marks the subject line as being “urgent, test score update” or something specific, I doubt they will ignore it. The student should email it to the specific officer and the general admissions email address.

You can email- honestly it would be very early in the game for UCF to reject him. I’ve seen deferrals one day and acceptances a few days later and no information had changed. If he gets deferred have him follow up and make sure they have his higher scores.

Btw, my D was accepted to the school I mentioned before, and she initially applied in October because they offered a fee waiver for early applications. So there is definitely no need to panic.