Does Lateness = Death?

<p>I think the schools are more forgiving if it's something out of the applicant's control, like your HS not sending your transcript in on time. That's when it pays to go to a HS with a relationship with the college, so the HS can call and apologize.</p>

<p>Last year, I accidentally applied to Duke two days after the deadline (I know, I know- but I thought the deadline was a different day than it was). That was drastically late, so I sent my admissions officer an email explaining what had happened and apologizing. I was accepted and awarded a full scholarship. Point is, you're not necessarily ruined here :)</p>

<p>Let it go. Let it go. You have nothing to lose. Same here with my grad school applications- one of my letters of recommendation is already late and who cares, it's the weekend and no one's going to see anything until Monday.</p>

<p>I don't think it matters, especially since you missed the deadline by a meager 20 minutes. Colleges want applicants.</p>

<p>It really depends on the school. I read straight from an admissions officer at MIT that they aren't strict about the deadline. I mean.. it's given you can't turn it in days late and expect the same treatment. But a few hours is no big deal.</p>

<p>I can see other, less lax schools counting one second as missing the deadline and saying you should have had it in. So I guess it really depends. It's PROBABLY ok though :)</p>

<p>Instead of wasting time on CC (or facebook for that matter) why arent you getting your late applications sent in? </p>

<p>My view is that you will be okay if they use PST. But if not, its a lesson learned. I know professors in college who wont accept papers or exams late by even 10 minutes. Yep. It happens. </p>

<p>Welcome to the adult world.</p>

<p>I missed Beloit's early action deadline by fifteen seconds at most. I sent Beloit's supplement in hours before the deadline, but my common app was a few seconds late in Eastern time. I live in the Midwest, and Beloit is in the Midwest, and I pressed submit at 10:59. Two seconds later it was 11:00; it must have changed while the page was loading.</p>

<p>But then it's not like I got to file it late under early action. The Common App website would only allow me to select regular decision, so I sent it in that way. This is despite the website saying "Schools located in other time zones may accept your documents up until the posted deadline in their local timezone, even though your submission time stamp will be recorded in eastern time."</p>

<p>So last night I sent an email to Beloit's admissions guy for my area explaining the situation. What chance do you think there is that they will accept the tardiness of a few seconds, find my application under regular decision, and review it under the early action plan? I mean, it's Beloit, right? Free spirit and what not?</p>

<p>My recollection on a squeaker from Buffalo out to a California college that it was PST that mattered to them, so that might partially answer the OP's question. It was a private college, not the UC system.</p>

<p>Honestly - I cannot believe a school will reject a strong applicant because something went slightly wrong with the app process. They are accepting students, not bureaucrats!</p>

<p>Seriously, do you guys think I'm screwed for EA at Beloit?</p>

<p>My ED application was due on November 15th and I submitted it at 11:30PM November 15th and they still accepted it and everything was peachy. Don't worry about it... I think you'll be fine, but I guess it depends on the school. There's nothing else you can really do- I wouldn't write a letter for something that was only an hour late.</p>

<p>thanks for your support guys, definately made me feel better. (plus getting my thread way up here was exciting!:-). Tickytock (?), what did you decide to do? And was it, by any chance, CMC? cause that's what mine was :-P. And I totally understand not getting it done cause those essays drove me CRAZY.</p>

<p>We were happy to see this post because my son just noticed his essay contained a link requesting other info. he'd have to get at school. So he missed the Dec. 1st deadline, too.</p>

<p>The "real rush" is for the regular decision deadline. The problem is that too many people apply at the last minute, usually out of panic or fear. Most colleges say that is a mistake because, even if on time, they dont have the time to read as much about you when they have thousands to pile through and make snap decisions about. Its ALWAYS better to be early than late. As for EA and ED, I just dont know. Depends on the school and the circumstance, I suppose. But I think its better to contact them and get whatever is missing into them, than do nothing.</p>

<p>They will tell you if something is wrong.</p>

<p>Most colleges tell you if something is missing. If you are a strong applicant and a clear admit, they will work with you. If you are on the bubble or clearly a non admit, its going to be curtains, I am afraid.</p>

<p>mkt16a17, It was CMC! I ended up not finishing-- I decided that it would be better to wait and write good essays than to turn in junk and risk getting flat-out rejected.</p>

<p>I'm sad, but it's mostly my own fault.</p>

<p>In my opinion, I don't think they will care. as someone else already said, colleges want as many applicants as they can get because lower acceptance rate = prestige!</p>

<p>Also in my opinion, except for a few really extenuating circumstances this problem should hardly be a problem for anyone who knows the deadline and is still sitting at the computer two minutes before editing. but, alas, i have discovered that some people love waiting until the last minute to do everything.</p>

<p>Be nice. There are a lot of extenuating circumstances.</p>

<p>Don't worry about it that much. If it's late, it's water under the bridge already, and no amount of savvy calling or letter-writing will do anything about that. At the same time, a slightly late application is unlikely to affect the admissions committee's ultimate decision. But next time, meet the deadline.</p>

<p>I am in a fix. Am applying to Uni of Chicago under early action (I am a US citizen living abroad). They emailed me on the 30th that my SAT scores were still not received and I had to send it by the 3rd of Dec. I checked with the CollegeBoard site - it had been submitted and received on the 24th of Oct. I had to leave town the same day to give SAT subject tests in another city. I did try to get in touch with them, but no helpful reply - just one sentence about how my scores cannot be found anywhere! From what I could gather from their website, they needed the SCHOOL to report my scores. My school doesnt have a CEEB code cos its in India, so I just got my scores typed out on the school letterhead, and stamped and signed by the principal, scanned the paper and sent the image in a jpg file. Will this work???</p>

<p>I'd cry if my stuff got lost.
I'm freaking out enough already, don't need the added stress.</p>