<p>For a 1/1 deadline that is. I would think that online apps are processed in minutes so it shouldn't matter. But others have said differently.</p>
<p>It could be risky. Sites could get lagged or become too busy, esp. on the last day since many people are trying to send theirs in.</p>
<p>yeah that happened less than a month ago for the UC apps. the servers kept crashing repeatedly.</p>
<p>"don't wait till the last minute."</p>
<p>so cliche but so true.</p>
<p>Is it risky? Probably.
Will I be doing it? It is very possible.</p>
<p>I see. Apart from the possibility of it not processing, will colleges notice/care that you didn't submit your application until the last minute?</p>
<p>I don't think that colleges care if your application is last minute. I don't think they even look at that. They probably DO care if you don't get it in on time. If you are looking at a selective place, this is one way of weeding out an applicant. (Unless you are a recruited athlete or something -- then they probably wouldn't care!)</p>
<p>Web sites can run slow or even stop, though, due to traffic or other reasons. Sometimes they don't run well at all. I remember last year my daughter trying to apply to UChicago online and their site didn't work. She gave up and submitted a paper application. Her friend was trying to work the UChicago site for weeks, leaving urgent voicemails and sending urgent emails to the tech contact (none of which were ever answered).</p>
<p>I'm a paranoid old fogey, so the thought of just relying on an online app seems frightening. (My daughter was just trying to do some preliminary information online; we had to send them other stuff by mail.) It seems to me I've heard of people who thought they applied online and the college later says that they have no record of that.</p>
<p>Of course, paper applications can get lost too. We always made copies of everything and sent the originals FedEx. I even kept the FedEx confirmation, which proved useful when one place was claiming it didn't have my daughter's application. When I gave them the specific delivery time, etc., they agreed to search some more and found it.</p>
<p>Sometimes paranoia can be a useful thing.</p>
<p>You're filling out forms, not sleeping in Vietnam.</p>
<p>Huh? Computer sites get nonfunctional and mail gets lost no matter where you live.</p>
<p>If I were doing an online application with a deadline where lots of other people will be doing the same thing, I would do it early enough to make sure that the site works and I could have a confirmation that everything went through. (There was one place last year where my dd did a preapplication online, hit submit, but then the college told us they had no record of it -- but she had more than enough time to redo it.)</p>
<p>I've heard from quite a few other parents about mailed college applications that either were never received or were lost by colleges. I think having a backup copy and a delivery confirmation is prudent. I've also read this advice in several books.</p>
<p>I'm sure that the large majority of the time, such precautions are unnecessary. It is a question of whether one is willing to be one of the exceptions.</p>
<p>Duct tape the windows so the terrorists can't get in!!!</p>
<p>if the site gets overloaded or whatnot, will the colleges give us an extension like the UCs did?</p>
<p>I think its super risky and I dont think colleges should give an extension.</p>
<p>Sometimes I think the colleges deliberately shut down servers on that day so that late applicants can be taught a lesson!!</p>
<p>Anyways ...has anyone tried to register for the SAT on the very last day...they never work....i have tried that and many others have tried. So if I were you Dec 30 would be my deadline</p>
<p>Agreed. You should not leave things as important as your college applications to the last minute. If the server overloads its your problem. I don't believe colleges have an obligation to give you an extension. You've had all year. Common App for this year came out in June I think, or maybe July. That's a long time to be working on an application. Most people I know have already submitted their applications for the 1/1 deadline before Christmas.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Sometimes I think the colleges deliberately shut down servers on that day so that late applicants can be taught a lesson!!
[/quote]
That is an absolutely ridiculous statement. Colleges want as many applicants as they can get (more applicants -> fewer acceptences -> higher yield -> higher rank). I'm sure they also realize that many last minute applicants are extremely well qualified individuals who would make a difference in their school.</p>
<p>That would be truly sadistic if they did that, akin to sending out rejections in thick envelopes, or worse with congratulations written on the outside.</p>
<p>Wait a second...if the deadline is 1/1, then we can send it on 1/1 by 11:59 PM, right?</p>
<p>Depends on the college... they'll tell you the latest time you can send it by.</p>
<p>When I was applying online to my safety school, it was last minute... bad idea. The website sometimes didn't load, some pages took forever to load, some changes weren't saved, etc. It took me almost an hour to send the application when it should have taken about 10 minutes.</p>
<p>I don't know if I can conclude anything from this, but the one question in my daughter's interview for Brown last year that threw her for a loop was, "Why did you apply at the last minute?" At least to this interviewer, it seemed to indicate that my daughter wasn't interested.</p>
<p>Of course, this could have just been a person who always believes in doing things early!</p>
<p>Fortunately, my daughter had plenty of evidence to demonstrate a long-time interest in the school (and made it in).</p>
<p>How "last minute" did your daughter apply?</p>
<p>I believe FedEx got the app's the first working day after Christmas, but it might have been a little before. I know the schools received everything in the week before to the deadline. </p>
<p>The one thing she didn't say was that she had been waiting to see what her ED school said first! Maybe this is what the interviewer was trying to find out in asking the question. Now she's glad she was deferred because she thinks she would be happiest where she's at. She was able to do a lot more research in those long months before the RDs were made.</p>
<p>It is unfortunate that the decisions for ED and the deadlines for RD are so close together. I could tell it was hard to work on essays that might not be necessary. </p>
<p>BTW I highly recommend that anyone apply to a safety with rolling admissions. Both of my kids did so and it did take a lot of pressure off knowing that they were going somewhere acceptable no matter what the news was some months later.</p>