<p>So Lewis & Clark college's EA deadline was November 1st. It is my first choice, but I didn't get my application in until November 13th. Today I got an email from the college that says:</p>
<p>We have received all the required credentials for your application to Lewis & Clark. Because your file was complete by our Early Action deadline you may consider switching your file from Regular to EA. This means you will receive your admissions decision by January 1. </p>
<p>Did their deadline get extended, or is this a mistake?
When I submitted my apps, it even said on the commonapp website that the L&C EA deadline was november 1st.</p>
<p>I just googled it, and still found these stats:
Early Action Deadline: 11/01
Early Action notification: 01/15</p>
<p>I really hope this isn't an error! I would love to find out by january!!</p>
<p>Such deadlines are often soft. Schools would be shooting themselves in the foot if they eliminated a top candidate just because materials arrived a bit late (at least schools that don’t have an over-abundance of top candidates!).</p>
<p>It’s no mistake. They extended the EA deadline. You might as well let them know you want to be considered an EA candidate. There’s no downside–you get to show interest and enthusiasm and you get an answer by January 1. Good luck!</p>
<p>As an example, my son sent in early action applications by the stated deadline (which varied among colleges he applied to) and only yesterday he received application tracking messages from some colleges indicating that if any forms were missing, he had until 24 November 2009 to send in the missing material. So colleges have deadlines to get students out of the starting block and running down the track, but they will make sure to allow themselves plenty of margin to consider applications in the early round if some of the paperwork doesn’t come in by the announced deadline. It looks like you have a chance at early consideration by your favorite college. Go for it. Good luck.</p>