<p>I'm a senior applying to four universities (Harvey Mudd, U of I Urbana, Northwestern, and Rose-Hulman) and I have a quick question. The college and career advisor at my school said that if a university receives paper mail (transcripts and recommendations) before the online application is sent, said univesity will throw out the paper mail since they have no record of me. Ideally, I would wait to send in the paper materials until I have applied online and paid, but the policy at my school is that all paper materials be submitted by last friday, december 7 (which I did). That material, which was most likely mailed today or will be mailed tomorrow, will reach the universities by the end of this week or the beginning of next. I have not applied to any of these colleges online yet because I can't pay for the apps until next week. Will the AdComs really discard my paper material, or is that just my counselor's scare tactic to get my apps in as early as possible?</p>
<p>I need help on this ASAP.</p>
<p>Thanks,
Adam</p>
<p>What I've every admissions counselor I've heard has said is that they'll automatically open a file for you when the first thing arrives regardless of what it is.</p>
<p>That's so good to hear. That's what I thought...I always knew it would be foolish to throw away something such as a transcipt or rec...can anyone else confirm this?</p>
<p>I've been told just the opposite: that schools will open a file for you upon receipt of ANY info (even if app hasn't been received yet). They put everything together as they receive it. You just need to make sure all of your materials, including app, is received by the school's deadline.</p>
<p>I'm not 100% sure if this holds true for all schools, but I believe that it does. In any case, I'm sure someone else will come along that will either confirm or correct.</p>
<p>Adam, sometimes counselors collect all the paper materials very early because they want to beat the holiday rush. If you are really concerned about this maybe you could discuss this issue with your counselor. Honestly, I think this has nothing to do with adcoms. I believe that once a University receives any kind of paper material some sorting staff of some sort checks the system for your application and then attaches it. I imagine that these things take time, so I don't think being a couple of days late on submitting the application will hurt you.
Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks again for the quick replies everybody. This is exactly what I had thought, but I wasn't completely sure. I thought completely discarding material that would obviously accompany an application would be stupid, especially if there is some internet delay and paper materials arrive just ahead of the actual application. Some of my essays are not perfect yet, and I certainly do not want to rush them in a few days time. This is definitely reassuring; I'll contact each school's admissions office tomorrow to be sure.</p>
<p>Thanks again everyone,
Adam</p>
<p>Yeah your college advisor seems to be going against both consensus and common sense.</p>