<p>Hi, new to the forum.</p>
<p>I'm a would-be transfer student finishing up a two-year Associate's in MA (Massachusetts, not "master of arts" LOL) and am filling out the Common Application to apply to Emerson College in Boston for Fall 2011. I'm confused about the issue of "mixing and matching" the online application and hard-copy paper forms. The "supplement" (which is the essay for the school itself, vs. the "generic" CA essay) can be uploaded as a PDF or Word document (both of which I have already). From what I've read on various sites (here, the CA help itself, and just in general around the web) is that if a recommendation is to be filled out on paper, the applicant/student needs to somehow alert or check off something on the CA to indicate that a hard copy will be filled.</p>
<p>However, I'm confused because there's no such page or check box to send a "link" for recommendations, and all the forms are in downloadable PDF format to print and have signed/filled out manually. I should point out that this is the only school to which I'll be applying; is that the reason why there are no other "links" because there isn't anywhere else to send the form? I've already got four professors willing to write recommendations for me, and another two I've emailed and from whom I am awaiting a reply. What I did was sent two of them the PDF recommendation form as an attachment in an email, and delivered a hard copy to the other two. So I guess there are really four questions I'm wondering about --</p>
<p>1) If I mix and match an online application and paper recommendations (faxed or mailed), am I automatically DQed for violating the CA regulations?</p>
<p>2) In what order should I apply -- should I wait for the recommendation forms to be filled out and arrive at Admissions (which seems like the smart thing to do), or send in my CA application online before the forms are sent?</p>
<p>3) Is the fact that there aren't any "links" a school-specific trait (in which case the application is not as "common" as one might think), or because there's only one school on the list?</p>
<p>4) To avoid confusion, should I just scrap applying online and send my entire application via fax or snail mail (which is possible, but "not recommended")?</p>
<p>If anyone can explain this in the simplest of details I'd really appreciate it. As Denzel Washington said to Tom Hanks in "Philadelphia," "explain this to me like I'm a five-year-old." (Of course, that'd be a really smart five-year-old who gets a bachelor's degree while still playing in the sandbox!)</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
<hr>
<p>Student:
Age 24, unemployed, in parents' residence
GPA 3.85 - Bristol Comm. College, Fall River, MA (Major: General Studies)
Phi Theta Kappa inductee (Nov 2010)
Possible majors - creative writing, media studies, writing for film/TV
Due date for application: March 15th 2011</p>