Since it’s done electronically, does it reach the colleges I’m submitting it to instantaneously? i.e. If I submit it Oct 31 and I’m applying ED, it will still reach the colleges in time?
Also if this is true, then why do things like FAFSA/CSS Profile take several days to deliver to the colleges?
It is pretty quick (the system records that you have paid and submitted almost immediately). BUT… sometimes the system goes down under heavy load, like in the day or two before a big deadline for lots of schools. Do not wait until the last day is my advice. And start filling it out now – you will have some legwork to document all your activities in the format they want, for example.
The Common App is a totally different computer system from FAFSA and Profile (which are also separate from each other). And sending test scores is yet another set of systems. The college probably doesn’t get the Common App the minute you hit enter, but shortly after that it is available to the college to download with the time/date stamp of when you submitted so they can see if you met the deadline.
Just hit your deadlines, preferably with a few days to spare. Send test scores ASAP, they tend to take the longest to get there (IMHO, that is the most antiquated part of the current admissions system). Colleges can’t look at all of the hundreds (or thousands) of apps that come for a given deadline right away anyway.
Note that your submission and the downloading by the college are two separated processes. As it is getting close to the EA/ED deadline, the school would download data more frequently. It is not unusually to have a free days or even a couple weeks of lag when the CommonApp just opened. For one school my D2 applied 10days ago, the portal showed a 3 days delay.
few days not “free days”. Hate auto correction on my phone.