So I worked hard on my Maryland application to get it finished before school starts, I went to submit it today and when I selected view application as PDF, the short answer questions in the preview were NOT all the same as the ones on the application. Therefore, my responses were obviously not answering the question.
For ex, the first question on the application is “If I could travel anywhere, I would go to…”
But when I look at the PDF preview, the question changes to “When I grow up…”
So my response about going to the western United States to hike obviously makes NO SENSE.
And the same thing happened for more of the short answer questions.
Admissions office is closed for Labor Day today, but I will call tomorrow. Really wanted to submit this today…Any ideas? Has this happened to others?
Yes, this happened to my son too. He sent an email last Wednesday, but hasn’t heard anything yet. He got an automatic response that said they received his email but due to volume, it may take several days to respond. I am sure there is just a bug in the PDF conversion, but he didn’t want to submit his application with those discrepancies. Hopefully, he’ll hear something soon because he, too, is anxious to submit his application. Good luck to you on your application!
@Gabzachloe32 thanks for your input! At least I am not the only one with this issue. I will call admissions tomorrow to see if they know what’s going on.
Did you save your answers in pdf format before submitting? A few years ago I seem to remember my son having to do something like that first, and he showed my daughter what to do when she applied so I don’t know exactly what it was (I want to say is was say as pdf document and then uploading instead of copy/pasting answers?)
@maryversity its for the short answer questions-you have to type it directly in the box on the application page. then the PDF application preview is what comes up differently
Oh, gotcha…sorry! No worries though, you still have plenty of time. You are smart to submit early - can you imagine if this happened and it was Oct 31st? Hopefully, it will be resolved soon. Best of luck in the admissions process!
@laughandlearn23, did you call the admissions office today? Just curious if any light was shed on this. My son wants to give it a few more days before calling since he sent an email already. Thanks for anything you share.
@Gabzachloe32@phillypridesmom so I just spoke with admissions over the phone. There is a glitch that’s causing the transfer applicant short answer questions to show up on the PDF preview instead of the freshman applicant short answer questions. He said other people have called about this and that you can still submit your application now. They will figure out as long as you are applying as a freshman 2016 applicant.
To make sure this glich isn’t repeated on your subsequent resubmission you might just repeat the question “If I could travel anywhere, I would go to…” at the top of your essay. That way admissions knows exactly what question you are answering
@PeterW unfortunately theres a 160 character limit, so including the question would eliminate the space for half of your response. Haha took me enough time to figure out how to put my responses into a short sentence. Just hoping they figure it out, I am sure they will.
I called about it and they said they hadn’t updated their pdf yet, don’t worry about, just apply. So my son’s app is in. I had freaked a bit while proofing right before filing when his answeres were so completely off topic–made him sound like a lunatic.
Sorry to revive this thread, but I’m having the same problem with my submission preview on my first-year app. I checked ‘yes’ for an important question about in state residency, but then the preview shows that I did not answer the question (totally blank). I called admissions and they told me to email tech support, but how important is the PDF to UMD when they review applications? Do they actually use what is on the PDF to make their decision, or is the PDF just for the applicant to see? I’m worried that the question will keep showing up blank and prevent me from getting in-state tuition…