<p>I just sent out my Common Apps to Dartmouth, Duke, Princeton, and Cornell yesterday (12/25/06). They are all due 1/1/07 so I thought I was in pretty good shape, but my friends told me today that I was screwed because they go through by date of application so I'm at the bottom of the pile and have a bad chance of being accepted.</p>
<p>I had never worried about this before because I have a good GPA 3.87/4.00, SATs of 780/730/760, SAT II Math L2 790, SAT II Chem 780, and a bunch of decent ECs, but my friends really do have me worried.</p>
<p>Will I be last on the list simply because my app was pretty late? I would hate to be turned down to all of my top choices above just because I took a long time to write my essays (which I think turned out pretty good).</p>
<p>Your friend is wrong. Think about it: Why would a university do something that ridiculous when its goal is to select the very best people for its freshman class? </p>
<p>Also, when applications arrive is based on the mail system, which varies greatly depending on one's city and country.</p>
<p>Northstarmom knows what she is talking about. If you look at last year's threads, many colleges accepted applications a few days late. If you consider how offices are run, it's not the decision makers who do the filing - it's the clerical workers or the work-study students who do the filing.</p>
<p>From a parent whose D submitted all of her applications on December 31 (Her computer crapped out had to go into the office to pick up all of her back up files which were on my office laptop). There were no worries as she got admitted everywhere she applied.</p>
<p>Remember all the applications are gathered and broken down by region where they are read randomly by the region representatives. Files are complied and checked for completion. Most files are not read until they are completed.</p>
<p>At many of the selective schools all applications are read twice. Some will be automatic admits (2 readers would have to concur on this) others will be automatic denys (again 2 readers will have to concur) but most are taken to committee by the regional rep.</p>
<p>There are some schools that start reviewing after the deadline(most schools you applied to) and some schools that start reviewing as soon as they receive apps (USC, Michigan, Minnesota...)</p>