<p>So my son and I are sitting here doing all his college applications today. We are under pressure because apparently the guidance counselor at his school said they all needed to be completed last week! Anyways, he is writing the essays and I'm filling out info and entering my credit card #, etc. Just now on the Dartmouth app, I accidentally typed MY NAME into the signature bar and hit submit!!! Is that something they will notice? Could we call Dartmouth and ask them if he can sign the signature page again? Or is it hopeless? Dartmouth is a huge reach anyways, but I hate to throw away $80 for nothing!</p>
<p>Really you should track deadlines yourself, Dartmouth RD is Jan 1 (Nov 1 ED is longer past.) I actually think that could look like you did your son’s application for him. Not too good. I would have him send a note or call himself, NOT YOU, to assure that he did his own application but you put in the credit card info and were confused and signed your name. Ask for instructions on how to proceed. You might wait for a couple other adult opinions.</p>
<p>Thanks! That is a great idea, I’ll have my son call on Monday. Yeah, I’m kind of unhappy that the counselor is insisting that ALL apps be in immediately. He says it is so that the counseling office has time to get everything done on their end before the deadlines…sigh.</p>
<p>Have the son call and clarify to Dartmouth that you signed for YOUR credit card; but on reflection, he sees that it is not a CREDIT CARD signature line, but an Application signature line. Then ask what to do. I would be very surprised to find that you were the very first person to ever do this. I would also be surprised if they toss the application into the pile with a demerit applied to it, before it is even reviewed. Seems like a non-event to me.</p>
<p>It may be a non event to some people, but it’s a big joke thing among college admissions officers who look for signs that kids are not doing their own apps. I agree the student should call and clear it up, but I also believe this could be an issue that could drop his admissions chances.</p>
<p>Yeah I freaked out when I did it! The truth is, we are sitting here doing his apps together! They seem to want kids to be fully independent and responsible at this age and he’s just not…he does need help with some things still. But I understand where they are coming from; you wouldn’t want a parent to do everything.</p>
<p>In any case, I’m relieved that it happened on the Dartmouth app rather than another one because Dartmouth is a super reach and probably not affordable for us anyways. So it’s not really his most important app. But I still hate to throw away $80! I’ll have him call on Monday and talk to them, for what its worth. Thanks everyone for the comments. :)</p>
<p>Is it that he still needs help, or that you don’t want to have to let go? Something tells me that if he has the stats to have a chance at admission at Dartmouth, he has achieved at least a fair amount of independence.</p>
<p>Kids are doing so many things this days so nothing wrong with you helping him. Unfortunate mistake with application, but since it is a super reach any way you have nothing to lose.</p>
<p>I think it’s that he isn’t very organized. The whole college app process is really involved and he isn’t much of a self-starter. He’s more of a get-the-assignment-follow-the-instructions kind of guy. But we won’t say that in any college essays!</p>
<p>Thanks! We are switching now to him entering the apps with me reviewing and entering the credit card info at the end. And yeah, I’m glad it was Dartmouth and not one that I’m more hopeful about. :)</p>
<p>I don’t think she is a “tiger-mom” for doing her applications with her son. I’m sure many kids want to have a close one by their side when they’re getting ready for one of the most important periods of their lives. </p>
<p>As for your issue, I doubt it’s a big deal. Just e-mail/call them and clear up the confusion. I doubt it will have a huge difference on his admission chances, if any. It won’t keep him out if he has the qualifications to potentially be accepted.</p>
<p>Thanks! He has the qualifications to be in the pool of applicants, but I know they are highly selective and I don’t think he’s at the top of that pool, and he doesn’t have a good “hook.” Also, we probably can’t afford Dartmouth anyways, so the chances of his getting accepted AND getting a good aid package are slim. In fact, we probably shouldn’t have applied to Dartmouth anyways…maybe THAT was the big mistake! But since we did, he might as well give it a shot, and call them to explain the goof.</p>
<p>Had I not been through the whole application process, I would really be laughing hard at the title of this thread (“I signed my own name. I should have signed my son’s, as if I were him. No one was watching over my shoulder, so it could have been him! Now they will know the truth- that it was my fingers on the keyboard the whole time, not his.” Rather than “My son signed my name instead of his own.”). Kind of a corollary “Darwin Award” type of funny.</p>
<p>Really, this is a molehill. I hope you are kind of laughing over it. If not, remember this (real or imagined) application to Yale thread:</p>
<p>Also, I’m starting to think the big mistake was wasting $80 on a Dartmouth application in the first place! Oh well…the rest of them are going to be better thought out, and yes, my son is now the one entering the info! </p>
<p>Wow, that was a good laugh, and you will laugh about it later. I too would be freaking out, as my alias is appropriate. Good thing you aren’t serious about Dartmouth, because I think that was a fatal mistake. I see nothing wrong with parents filling out applications for their kids (not writing the essay, just data entry), and our private counselor said parents do it all the time. Seniors have a lot on their plates - last SAT chance, college essays, AP classes, fall grades still considered in apps. Yikes, he’s writing the essays now?! Take away the stress and enter the data for him - I doubt you’ll make the same mistake again. He will have time to be independent when he starts college. I believe in nurturing, not tough love. Your son will be fine in college because he knows he is loved.</p>
<p>Also, as someone else stated, why are his apps due now when the deadline is nowhere near? Usually, the high schools only want the list of colleges they are applying to, the envelopes for letters of rec if it’s not Common App, and for the teachers to know they need to write letters of recommendation. </p>
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