<p>i was wondering if schools have a deadline of january 15th, some schools say 'mailed by jan 15' on their websites, which is straight-forward, but a bunch (like exeter) just say that the deadline is january 15. what exactly does this mean? does it mean that exeter has to physically receive all of parts of your application by january 15th (seems a little unlikely), or just that everything should be mailed and thus post-marked before january 15th?</p>
<p>any input is appreciated. thank you!</p>
<p>Ask the school.</p>
<p>most admissions offices are closed until the 3rd, and i’m really curious–especially with recs.
i’m sure there must be people here with past experiences w/ exeter and/or post-marking</p>
<p>Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be snippy - just make sure you follow through the the admissions offices when they open on Monday. You don’t want to miss a deadline because of mistaken advice you receive on CC! :)</p>
<p>As for the different parts of your application, my understanding is that you’ll be held to a higher standard for the parts that you’re responsible for submitting yourself. In other words, schools won’t go out of their way to penalize you for things that are beyond your control - like when the school secretary sends your transcript out or when the English teacher gets your rec’s to the post office. So, whether app’s have to be postmarked by the 15th or received by the 15th (which seems unlikely, since it’s a Saturday - but what do I know?), if a recommendation or a transcript straggles in a few days later, it shouldn’t be the end of the world.</p>
<p>what does post marking actualy mean? does it just mean that you have your forms mailed out by the 15th or is post marking something that the post office does?</p>
<p>A postmark is actually the ink that gets stamped on your letter when you mail it - it should cover the stamp. When it’s not smeared, you should be able to see both where and when the letter was stamped. So it’s not the same as just dropping a letter in a mailbox - where it might not get picked up 'til the next day. Postmarked means it actually got processed by the post office by a certain date.</p>
<p>so if i give my teacher stamped envelopes how do i make sure they get postmarked?</p>
<p>I think the post service does the postmarking for you…</p>
<p>when i get the stamps can i get my envelopes post marked and then hand them out to my teachers?</p>
<p>Loll. Divealive, so you give me a definite answer on postmarking and ask my same question on a different thread?</p>
<p>@ deerhotch: no, i think when they’re mailed they’re postmarked. i think it’s processed by the post service, like heps said. then again not totally sure…</p>
<p>@ flash: yes! i was 100% sure until someone contradicted me, since this was the procedure 2 years ago (mailing by deadline). sorry about that 
better safe than sorry though, i think :)</p>
<p>It varies by school. I believe Hotchkiss wants all items to be IN the office by the 15th and Exeter wants them to be POSTMARKED by the 15th.</p>
<p>uh oh. where did you hear this about hotchkiss (for some reason, i can’t access their website right now)… does it explicitly state that, or did you contact them?</p>
<p>well, this is troubling. i wonder about my recs…</p>
<p>i actually talked with hotchkiss recently and they said that they accept missing forms up until the end of jan and they are considered on time. can someone please carily how you get your envelopes postmarked becuase if you hand your teacher stamped enveloped and they put them into a mail box there not going to be marked, or do you have to ask you teacher to bring them to a post office to me postmarked?</p>
<p>Page 82 of the Hotchkiss viewbook, second column, under the heading “Completing the Formal Application”:</p>
<p>All elements of the Formal Application, including the Student Essay, Graded Writing Sample, Parent Statement, Standardized Testing and Recommedation Forms **must arrive in the Admission Office by January 15, 2011. **</p>
<p>Hmmm…</p>
<p>I just did a search on their website and I found this:</p>
<p>“To receive an admission decision by March 10, please submit all items listed below to our office by January 15, 2011 (postmark date).”</p>
<p>[The</a> Hotchkiss School - Admission - Applying](<a href=“http://www.hotchkiss.org/admission/applying/index.aspx]The”>http://www.hotchkiss.org/admission/applying/index.aspx) - Its under Step 5.</p>
<p>Lack of consistency? I guess the deadline is a postmark deadline but I would still try to send everything in before the 15th so they can process it.</p>
<p>“can someone please carily how you get your envelopes postmarked becuase if you hand your teacher stamped enveloped and they put them into a mail box there not going to be marked, or do you have to ask you teacher to bring them to a post office to me postmarked?”</p>
<p>After your teachers write your recommendation and seal up the envelopes they just have to put them in the nearest mailbox. When the mailman comes by and picks up the envelopes in the mailbox, he/she will then return to the post office and they will be postmarked. It’s not a guarantee that the day your teachers place the envelopes in the mailbox they will be postmarked that day (the mailman could have already took the mail out of that specific mailbox earlier that day). </p>
<p>Your teachers would only have to bring the envelopes to the post office if they finished the recommendation on the 15th. In this case, the teachers would have to go to the post office in order to guarantee the January 15th postmark.</p>
<p>ok thanks a bunch for clearing that up for me. i didnt know that the post office postmarks every envelope!</p>
<p>An envelope doesn’t get postmarked until it’s delivered to the post office to be mailed. So, no, you can’t get it postmarked ahead of time. Basically, the postmark is just proof of the date the envelope was mailed.</p>
<p>And ALL mail gets postmarked - whether you drop it in a mailbox or take it to a post office. The only difference is WHEN it gets postmarked. Go to a post office and hand it to someone and it’ll get postmarked right then. Drop it in a mailbox at 8 pm on a Saturday evening and it won’t get picked up and postmarked until Monday, when the box gets emptied.</p>
<p>If you’re worried about teacher recommendations, then probably the best thing you can do - if you haven’t done it already - is write the teacher a thank you note. If the recommendation hasn’t already gone out, then your thank you note will be a gentle reminder.</p>
<p>i actually havnt handed my teachers my recs yet, but im going to let them know when i get back that ill need them sent out before the 13th.</p>