Do NOT wait until Nov 1 for priority (personal recommendation)

Just a word of advice. This is the first year that the Coalition Application has been launched. Whenever a new platform is used, there are bound to be “unexpected” things that happen. Everything may be fine, but personally, I would make sure to submit your application by this weekend at the latest so that if there is some unexpected glitch, you still have all day Monday (Oct 31) to contact Maryland to try to correct the issue and still get your app in on time for the deadline.

Double check this week with guidance counselors to be sure transcripts were sent and letters of rec were submitted. This will give you some peace of mind also.

Best of luck to all applicants!

@maryversity As a nervous parent, I agree with everything you said about not waiting to the last day.

I just wanted to clarify so others know that UMD is still using their own application portal this year. The Coalition Application will be used next year. See https://www.admissions.umd.edu/apply/

Their quote is “Students currently seeking admission for Spring 2017 or Fall 2017 should apply using our secure Application Portal. By mid-August 2017, UMD will use the application provided by The Coalition for Access, Affordability, and Success.”

S just submitted his application last night. His application portal shows “Application Status - Submitted”. Is there a way to check online when the test scores and letters of rec. are received and matched up to S application? The portal says that we can track documents, but there’s no link. Thanks,.

@EngineeringDad7777 My son applied in early October and the link to track documents showed up on the portal after a couple of days.

Thanks

A while back, UMD’s Admission page stated that they were going to use the Coalition App this year. I personally posted that info on this forum at that time

Since then UMD decided to use their own App this year (but did choose to use the Coalition Essay Prompts) and will use the Coalition App next year.

Still, it’s important to not wait till Nov 1 to submit your application.

Good Luck All

S submitted application 2 days ago and today it showed up on the UMD portal/status page with the document tracking. It shows all Naviance documents (LOCs and transcript) as received, but not the test scores. I spoke to admissions and they show receipt of test scores and noted that the portal/status page is wrong due to a tech issue. They haven’t updated it yet, but I thought I would share this in case anyone else has the same issue.

Thank you! I had the same issue with the test scores, and I was freaking out because I thought they had not received them, even though I sent them a month ago. Now I can breathe a sigh of relief. Thank you!

oops - my apologies…@SoofDad, I didn’t see your update about the application before posting this!

So I called UMD two weeks ago and asked if they needed my transcripts from the college where I took a dual-enrollment class. They said they did not, and the application said the same thing. However, now it lists those transcripts as missing and my app as incomplete! What do I do? Will they mark me down as having an incomplete transcript by Nov. 1? I am on MT time and their office is already closed.
Should I go into the application and remove that college from the list of post-secondary schools? The application didn’t say NOT to list the college, it just said don’t send the transcripts.

Are you applying as a freshman or transfer student? It does make a difference. @SoofDad - what do you think about this? I’m kind of thinking you have tomorrow to call the school directly, but not sure…

I’m also not sure if this is a technical thing or not (for example, when my kids applied it showed that teacher recs were not received but yet offline recs were…?)

@maryversity @emptyMT - I agree. Call first thing Eastern Time.

I got up this morning early (my time!) and checked the applications portal. It was all corrected and my application is complete! So I didn’t have to call. They must really be working around the clock.

I know it is past November 1 but here is a real world example of why it is good to not wait until exactly November 1 to apply.

A friend of my son had thought everything was taken care of 2 weeks ago to easily meet College Park’s November 1 priority deadline. But his counselor recommendation and transcripts never showed on the UMD Portal as being received. The counselor was adamant that she had sent them and to just wait.

Finally, almost at the deadline, the counselor showed the student the confirmation that UMBC had sent them. He said, “UMBC??? I am applying to UMD College Park, not UMBC.”

They resolved the situation before the deadline, but if they had not started the process several weeks ago, this mistake would have likely cost them dearly.

Last year, I saw someone post that they had sent their SAT scores to UMUC. Sadly. the mistake was not found until well after the Priority deadline.

Son’s app has been complete for over week according to the status page. I went to check it again this morning and it now says it was completed TODAY 11/3/16!!! What the heck is going on over there? Now we need to call to make sure his app was actually complete by the deadline?

Anyone else have this issue? I suggest that you check.

Nevermind… From the status page…

Yep, @STEM2017, I was worried yesterday about the same thing–until I noticed the comment in the sidebar:
“In addition, please note that our system updates daily and the application status completion date noted at left reflects today’s calendar date, which may be different from the actual date your application and all supporting documents were submitted.” I wish there was some way we could see that applications are definitely being considered as priority!

(Edit) Question already answered above. Good luck.