<p>I'm from Portugal and I'm applying to MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon. And today I'm going to send all my materials through mail.
The materials need to be in the universities before the deadline (1st January) or just postmarked before that deadline?
It's because I'm afraid that if I send packages through regular mail they only will arrive in the universities like in mid january.
Another thing should I send the packages registered?
BTW I've read somewhere that students shouldn't use FEDEX (Or any other Private carrier) to send the application materials... is it true?</p>
<p>Postmarked. I hope (cos I haven't sent mine either). Check the admissions websites of the schools you're applying to, most of them will say postmarked, and if they specifically want it received by the deadline it will probably be written quite prominently.</p>
<p>Registered - depends on how useful it is in your country. In my country, for instance, you stop receiving updates on registered mail once it leaves the country. Since my country is the size of Madrid (minus suburbs) the only thing it really provides is a little peace of mind, knowing that registered mail is less likely to get lost.</p>
<p>You need to get your application to them by Jan 1, not postmarked. Teachers' rec and transcripts could arrive later. Even though you are oversea you could still do online common application, right? If so, that's the way I would do it because it's the fastest(best way) get it straight through their database, then you could send your other packet via regular mail. The don't like FedEx because someone would need to sign for it and it couldn't be delivered to a PO box. For my daughter, any important college documents we have always sent via registered mail.</p>
<p>Thank you for the replies. I checked the admission websites and I believe that to apply to cornell and Carnegie mellon the documents have to be there by 1 January. I don't know but it's very probable that if my teacher reccomendation etc arrives a little bit later they will still consider it... right?</p>
<p>Meh - sorry if it's confusing, but YES, your app has to be there by Jan 1. It's recs, transcripts or additional materials (portfolios, etc) that can be postmarked by Jan 1. If you've already done the app online, then as long as your other materials are postmarked by Jan 1, you should be fine.</p>