<p>What could be as frustrating as the essays and interviews by this time of application calendar is meet the deadline for school stuff such as transcripts and teacher recs. </p>
<p>I remember my son completed and sent online his application by the end of November. (He hasn't applied as many schools though) </p>
<p>The remaining part was teacher recs and transcripts. For the schools that provide online rec system, utilize it. You can check online if the rec has been submitted and so no need to keep asking teachers everyday. The only problem with it happens when the system goes down (it does sometimes). Also, one system did not recognize the submission until almost the deadline. So, make sure the system is working all right. </p>
<p>When you ask teachers to send the rec via mail, it would always be better to send it before or after the Christmas break, not during. My son's rec was sitting on the door at one school for more than a month and they finally lost it. We had to send it again. (What a nightmare when the teacher didn't keep the copy.)</p>
<p>Many schools are found to be quite flexible about the deadline for school stuff (trans. and recs) as they understand the teachers are so busy and there might be a delivery issue associated with the Holiday season and new year. Most schools we applied told me that as long as the student part of application (including parent essays and SSAT scores) is submitted in time, teacher recs can be late by as many as one week. (But check with the schools)</p>