ADVICE PLEASE: Transcripts will not be sent in time

Applying to College
1

I forgot to ask my hs counselor about sending some transcripts, mostly because I made the decision to apply to these third-choice colleges last minute. So in a semi-panic, I forwarded my official transcript to the admissions offices. The original email is legit, but obviously me forwarding it was not. I intend on asking my counselor to send the official ones as soon as we get back to school, but that won’t be a 2-3 days after the admissions deadline.

But now I’m worried–assuming that they will take late transcripts, will forwarding those transcripts appear like fraud and hurt my application? Will they help and at least serve as a placeholder? Or will it have done absolutely nothing to hurt or help my application? I can probably email the admissions office and tell them to ignore my forwarded email and just wait for the official school one…

2

You’ll be fine. The colleges want to read your app. This is a common panic/question this time of year, every year.

“OMIGOD, X college won’t review my application because my transcript/score/rec letter/etc. did not get to their offices by Jan 1” said no one. Ever. On this forum.

3

You will be fine. They will understand that you were trying to correct the issue, but they know that sometimes not everything can arrive on time. Most colleges (one exception would be UMich) allow materials that the student is not responsible for sending (transcripts, LORs) to come in a few days late.