<p>I have completed the applications (yes, even all the supplement essays) for 22 different colleges. My dad said he would pay the application fees, so I was never worried. Well just tonight he said that because we are going on vacation in a few days there is no extra money. ***? I only have around $600 in my personal account which pays for barely a third of the colleges. My dad said he will pay for them in a few weeks, but that is after the deadline. Can the fee be paid after the deadline? I see that you can pay by check. Can I just say I will pay by check so they will accept a late payment? Does it have to be postmarked by a certain date? I know it takes a while for parts of the application to be processed. Should I just make checks out to all the different colleges and hope they don't all cash them at the same time?</p>
<p>Don’t make checks out to the colleges and hope they don’t cash them. I recommend emailing the admissions offices NOW and ask them what the best course of action is. Some schools will be more lenient than others. If the $600 will cover all your January schools you might be fine but I don’t know your family situation. </p>
<p>The only other thing that you could do is start begging friends and relatives for a quick loan. Chances are they will understand. </p>
<p>What if I submit everything but the application fee by the deadline? Will I just get an email a few days later saying “Please pay your application fee.” or will it be “Sorry, you application will no longer be considered.”?</p>
<p>From what I could gather it looks like if you don’t submit the application fee you will have an incomplete application. If you look on the common app website under colleges there will be no little green arrows next to the colleges even though you did submit the common application and supplement. Again though I recommend emailing the admissions office for each school. Ask them if they can see that you submitted all application materials accept the payment. And I am sorry but I don’t know if you will receive any email notification. This is likely not the first time this has happened. For reference this is what the common application says…</p>
<p>HOW DO I PAY MY APPLICATION FEE?
Many Common App member institutions require an application fee. Payment of this fee may be available online on this site, on the institution’s website, or via check. If an institution that you have selected requires an application fee, this will be available in the ‘Payments’ section. If an application fee is required, you must submit this fee before your application package will be complete. </p>
<p>If you are sending your payment by mail, send a check or money order payable in US currency. Do not send cash. Include your name, date of birth and home phone number on the check.</p>
<p>How about if you apply to a more reasonable number of colleges? Even people who need to compare financial aid packages don’t need to apply to that many schools. Keep all the schools that have no application fee (assuming you might have a few of those, my D has a couple on her list). Then… if you have any acceptances in hand from rolling admissions schools, figure out if there is anyplace “lower” than that on your list (where you would not go because you have a better acceptance in hand), and drop those. Then pick a few more schools to drop (do you have any “super reach” schools – very low acceptance rates, and your stats are below the 50% mark?). Drop those, don’t waste the application money on them. Is there any place that might be geographically unrealistic for you (high travel costs or awful weather)? Maybe drop 1-2 of those.</p>
<p>Whatever you do, do NOT write checks if there is not enough money in the account to cover it. I suspect it pretty much guarantees your rejection if you are unreliable enough to bounce the admissions fee check…</p>