Yup, though I’m breathing a little easier since the ones due tomorrow were submitted today, and include a key top choice. The others aren’t due for a few weeks, but are drafted (not that any of the drafts are ready for prime time yet), but I have confidence (finally) that they’ll get done by the deadline and still some reason hope that they’ll get done before the end of the break.
But ouch it is SO hard to remain calm. I’ve had times where I just needed leave the house, just to keep myself from saying one more word.
And of the ones that remain, there’s only one that I’m going to press and one the kid really cares about. The others could be good choices too, but are gravy if the others get done. #overit
The EA apps were the real stress inducer. Son has completed 1 RD app and has 5 to go, with 4 due Jan 1. He was rejected from his SCEA school but accepted into his 2nd choice EA, so this is about having a few more options and seeing if he can get into a few ultra-reach schools.
Agree with those who said if there are already financially doable colleges already in the bag, then cutting it close to the deadline is a risk the student chooses to take. Their call, but also they need to own the risk. As many have said here, stuff happens. Websites crash, computers crash, internet goes down, credit cards get compromised/stolen and can’t be used to pay for the application fee. You name it. Stuff happens. If one is willing to take that risk, that is their choice.
While it seems someone took the information personally in another thread, it was not meant as a personal comment- but rather that schools can, and some DO look at when a person submits their application, and it may be seen as a component of demonstrated interest (along with other variables) . Schools are under great pressure to increase their yield and manage their budgets, and the use big data to help discern this with their enrollment management tools. Schools are under increased pressure from the feds to improve retention and graduation rates,and many things that are likely to affect that (family income, student’s college readiness indices which could include time management skills, etc) are some of those factors. Some adcomms may consider the 11th hour application as “polishing and perfecting their essays” while other will see it as a last minute app thrown into the pot. If this is a risk a student is willing to take, then there isn’t a lot the parent can do. It could lead to an “admit-deny” offer (when a student is accepted but with very little if any aid, leaving a big gap).
College admissions is a big business. Its quite possible that some schools will use FA optimization tools, and the size of some of their merit offers may be influenced by metrics that are determined to see the likelihood of enrollment. In some cases, when an application is submitted might be calculated in the “demonstrated interest” metric.
So if one is a bit of a gambler, they may feel comfortable applying at the 11th hour. It might not matter at all. But then again… it just might.
It seems to me that while applications submitted on the early side might be a solid indicator of both interest and executive function, colleges would be mistaken to read an 11th hour submission as lack of interest, at least in cases where prior interest had been established. They might well do so, but it would be an unfortunate and inaccurate measure.
My kid may get applications in a mere 24 hours before their deadlines, but having visited and/or interviewed and/or checked in with a rep for all of those schools well in advance, the timing only signals a tendency to procrastinate, not a lack of interest. (Then again, if they’re looking to weed out procrastinators, they’ve got a solid indicator there!)
A last minute app with no previously expressed interest? Different story.
porcupine,
The timing of the submission is but one data point. But it is a data point. One can’t easily tell how heavily it is weighted, but it can be a variable. Certainly if a student has visited campus, sat in on a class, met with faculty, interviewed, communicated with poignant questions with the adcomm, wrote a killer "why XXX’"essay, but couldn’t submit until late for a very legit reason (which, IMO, doesn’t include “I am too busy with my schoolwork”), that may be no big deal. But if a school who does consider demonstrated interest is crafting a class and sees an application of a strong applicant, with a last minute application, even with great essays, again the submission timing is one factor along with the other indices of demonstrated interest. Schools are having a harder and harder time forecasting tuition revenue and yield. So again, it might not affect whether or not the student is accepted, but it might affect how much tuition discounting is offered to a candidate.
@jym626 - Not debating or contradicting you because I have no data to work with myself – just my opinion on the relative validity of the data point in question. (If I were a school, I wouldn’t count it for much – unless I were specifically trying to reduce the number of procrastinators.)
I’m curious about your source for this, though. Do you know of actual schools actually using this particular data point, or are you simply speculating that it would be one potentially interesting data point they might or might not choose to factor in, now or in the future?
I am not privvy to the individual metrics of specific data management tools, but I do know that they look at many metrics. And I heard the head of admissions of a school (and no I will not name the school) mention that they DO look at the time apps are submitted.
Waiting til the last minute is risky, for a variety of reasons.
So far only 1 of 2 due at midnight has been submitted.
DS just came in & told me for the other app- he didn’t send his SAT scores to the university.
My response- I won’t request them until I know that you submit before midnight. ~X(
I am so glad I am looking a this stuff in the rear view mirror! I feel for you parents. And just wait til it’s time to pack for school. Procrastination, round two…
DS finishing up on the common app comes downstairs last night to tell me, “Mom, I got my counselor to give a LOR, but this school needs teacher LOR’s!” I was trying to remain calm, thinking he had really blown it. Then he says he guesses he will contact the teachers when he goes back to school after the break. He asked 2 teachers last year if they would write them. The app is due 1/15/16. So for him this is early!
This time last year my D had to leave our New Year’s dinner table to finish a couple apps. We had guests proofreading her essays. Every application got in and she had great success. I wish the same to all of you!
As of precisely three minutes ago, I think he’s done. 3 EA apps in and results received, plus one RD in - all early. The last two RD applications are due at 9pm PST tonight. One made it in around 2pm, the other at about 7:48.
His original list was about 10 schools, which dropped to 8, then 7, and seems to have settled at 6. I’m not complaining.
Good luck to everyone who’s waiting, waiting, waiting… may it be a fruitful weekend.
Just had a mini-melt down (me not her) over the two apps that still need to be submitted.
Me: “Are you sure it is 11:59pm our time, not east coast time?”
Her: “Yes.”
Me: Quick internet search, can’t find schools, but stumble on school with January 3rd deadline where deadline is their time zone, not ours. Completely freak-out. Threaten to not pay application fee if the apps get rejected. Spend the extra five minutes I should have in the first place to find the info on the actual schools in question. She’s right. I’m wrong.
Picking a fight with your child five hours before the deadline? I’ll just go ahead and nominate myself right now as Mother of the Year.
