Does Lateness = Death?

<p>I had an app due December 1st (yesterday/today depending on how you see it) that I only managed to get in about 20 minutes ago. Am I screwed? Should I email them, apologize, and see? (It was for a scholarship, but I cannot go to the school if I don't get the scholarship so I have no interest in RD w/o the scholarship aka Jan 1 due date) They're in California so I kinda hoped it'd be on their time (so due 3 am Sunday EST) but, as the Common App site records it in my-time, I'm doubting it. Does anyone else have experience with this? Am I ok? What should I do?</p>

<p>Pease don't tell me that I'm stupid and I don't deserve to get in. I already feel stupid, and I really did the best I could with circumstances how they were. Nothing that I can email and say my power went off/my ___ died/I was throwing up, ust the normal things taking longer than they should've, etc. I have no good excuses. So don't yell at me please.</p>

<p>I have been on scholarship committees and have seen late applications -- even a few minutes late -- automatically rejected. I also have seen late applications accepted.</p>

<p>I know two people who got their college or graduate school applications in late, but were outstanding candidates, and were accepted with merit aid or fellowships.</p>

<p>On a related subject, one of my sons won a prize in a national essay contest even though I accidentally mailed his entry the day after it was supposed to be postmarked.</p>

<p>I think it would be a very bad idea to e-mail or call with your apologies and excuses. Given the volume of applications that come in at the last minute for many college-related applications, even if the institution wants to eliminate the late ones, it would be easy for a busy clerk to overlook applications that are late.</p>

<p>I would be the last person to say you were stupid. I am sure that several of my own college apps were late because I put off doing them until Christmas vacation, and it was then that I realized that the apps were due something like Jan 2., and I needed a guidance counselor recommendation. Of course, school vacation didn't even end until after Jan. 2. I still got in everywhere. :)</p>

<p>The lesson that I took from that was one that has served me well for a lifetime. Never, ever put off to the last second something like an application because whatever can go wrong will go wrong. That's when your computer freezes, the electricity shuts off or you get a blinding migraine.</p>

<p>in the same boat (but reverse, west to east coast)..so you think it would be bad to call? even if you call and say something like</p>

<p>i submitted it on time but it shows up wrong...etcetc?</p>

<p>Do not call. All that would do is call attention to something that there is a good chance they'd overlook. If the time really is important to them, it's highly unlikely they'd accept an excuse that you could give over the phone. The kind of excuses that are acceptable under such circumstances are major ones that one can document such as having one's home destroyed by fire the week that applications were due (something that really did happen to a CC poster several years ago).</p>

<p>on the website for a university it confirms receiving everything (recs, transcripts, etc) on a checklist. if that is not checked off within the next few days, would it still be bad to just ask to confirm whether they have the application or not</p>

<p><em>sigh</em> I had a scholarship app due to a CA school 2.5 hours ago.. I'm in the Eastern time zone.</p>

<p>should I even bother submitting it at this point? My parents will be mad if I don't, but they're out of town so I wouldn't have to deal with that for a while.</p>

<p>I'd try submitting it. What have you got to lose?</p>

<p>several hours of sleep.</p>

<p>But yeah, I guess I'll do it. I've heard CA people are pretty chill, so maybe they'll be a little lax on the deadline? :-P</p>

<p>four/five hours late is better than never, I guess.</p>

<p>yeah. you'll be fine. plus, colleges lose things all the time -- I mean, with my ED Upenn app, I'd gotten 2 different instances where they lost my papers and I had to resend. During the first week, honestly, papers are getting lost everywhere. You have a chance of getting away with it.</p>

<p>Not sure but, if it is a school in California I think that their server should be on PST and post the time received as 3 hours earlier for you.</p>

<p>I wish.. it's common app though, so I think it will be "stamped" as late.</p>

<p>It's not stamped as late. The Common App uses EST but California schools use PST. If the school is in California they will expect it by midnight in California or 3 am EST.</p>

<p>either way, though, I'm late.</p>

<p>My sister sent her application to Princeton two days after the postmark deadline and was accepted. </p>

<p>Some are strict, some aren't, but it's worth a try.</p>

<p>that's definitely inspiring. I've spent the last few hours zoning out... essentially staring at the computer screen or occasionally the TV.</p>

<p>I'm just going to sit down, write these essays, and get on with my pathetic life.</p>

<p>No! Colleges are unbelievably understanding. I had the false impression that I could apply on paper and pay online, and when I figured I couldnt and had to send a check, i freaked out. I contacted yale, and they just said submit the check with a letter explaining why you missed the deadline. I did, and now all is good :)</p>

<p>Congrats, that's awesome!</p>

<p>I'd love to do that, but my letter would be like: I stayed out too late, procrastinated a lot, felt sort of sick, got mad because I hate personal writing.</p>

<p>btw, what kind of debate do you do?</p>

<p>I do national forensics style (dunno exactly how to designate it - i'm international - greece)
but i'm more of an MUN afficionado ! :p</p>

<p>nice. I've dabbled in a couple of styles, and am thinking about doing parli in college.</p>

<p>MUN always seemed really cool to me.</p>

<p>I sent my ED application to NYU express mail the weekend before it was due. It was on time. But my transcript was a couple weeks late. I found out 6 days after the deadline. I had the registrar at my school call the director of admissions at NYU and had her work it out. And apparently it did work out because I'm sitting here in my dorm room on Washington Square Park typing this story.</p>