<p>And when a school states that November 1st is the deadline, is that the postmark deadline, or does the package have to arrive by that time?</p>
<p>If mailing, you should assume at least 3 business days from date of mailing for arrival at the college (meaning count only Monday to Friday and leave out holidays to get three). If on-line it is a matter of seconds or minutes at most.</p>
<p>As to how a deadline applies, you need to check with each college to which you intend to apply. Many consider their deadline date a postmark date while some a date by which the app must be in their hands. Moreover, materials other than the app -- transcripts, test scores, recs -- may sometimes be due by the same date and sometimes can be sent later.</p>