<p>I was pleased to see this morning that my son had prepared two neatly marked manila envelopes containing the request forms and stamped, addressed envelopes for his teacher recommendations. He has chosen the teachers very well and the recommendations should be great. But my one concern is that he still hasn't begun any of the Common App supplements, so it could easily be weeks before any of the apps are submitted and it might be well into December before they're all done (he's applying to nine schools). </p>
<p>Is it a problem for a college to receive a student's teacher recommendations before they have an application on file for him? Will they just create a file based on the recs and then add the application when it comes? (Am I worrying way too much about everything?)</p>
<p>Not to worry! It doesn’t matter in most cases what order the application pieces are sent to colleges. Everything is collected until the application is complete, then at their chosen time they go through them – in the case of a rolling admissions college, that could be right away. My S just received an acceptance from a school that downloaded his app from the common app site only one week before he received his letter! </p>
<p>Many schools wait until the deadline passes before they dig into any apps (for that admission round: ED, RD, etc) </p>
<p>But all of S’s LORs were done online thru the common app before he sent in any common apps. He had done some of the supplements, though. I really don’t think it matters. However, if you are submitting thru the common app site, some schools will accept parts of the app only in a certain order. For example, Brown won’t accept the common app until the supplement and payment have been submitted.</p>
<p>D had her school submit all the teacher recs and secondary school report, along with GC review, at the beginning of this month to the schools she thinks she will apply to. Her Common App is done but not submitted since she is constantly reviewing it, driving herself crazy. We checked with the colleges she is applying to and they all said that they are used to receiving application material in pieces.</p>
<p>I have to believe what I’ve heard and read on CC nad elsewhere, which is that the college will start a file on the applicant no matter what piece of the package comes to them first, be it the application/supplement, letters of recommendation, score reports, etc. This makes sense to me, since the applicant only has control on the timing of the pieces he/she is working on, and for the others, he/she is at the mercy of teachers, counselors, College Board, etc.</p>
<p>I really need to increase my caffeine intake…or maybe decrease it. For a second there I was seriously picturing the admissions offices getting the envelopes, opening them up, saying, “Who the hell is this kid? Never heard of him” and tossing them in the recycling bin. I never even stopped to consider that all these schools will already have my son’s info on file from the visits we’ve done, if nothing else. </p>
<p>No problem. Admissions offices create files for students as they receive material, doesn’t matter what order the stuff comes in. In fact, in any admissions office you’ll find files and files of incomplete applications, some of which are simply never completed.</p>
<p>Many colleges have a 2-part application process, where the first part is simply an online form to fill out with name & address – filling out that form is a sure way to get a file started. </p>
<p>The only problem that comes up sometime is when multiple files are accidentally created for the same individual. This can easily happen where there is a slight discrepancy of names. For example, a LOR arrives for “Bob Somebody” but test scores come for “Robert somebody” – and by the time “Robert (Bob) Somebody” actually applies, there are already 2 separate files. </p>
<p>However, that is generally rectified when you follow up to confirm whether the file is complete. I think most colleges now have some sort of online system for such confirmation.</p>