<p>FTA: "Rob Killion, executive director of the Common Application, played down the delays and said the site had been running some upgrades in anticipation of a flood of applications. “That process briefly slowed the system down a bit and perhaps even caused a ‘timeout’ error for some users,” Mr. Killion wrote."</p>
<p>Great timing, Rob. Let's make sure that the upgrade work and testing spills over into crunch time. DUH!</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/education/01apply.html?_r=1&ref=education[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/education/01apply.html?_r=1&ref=education</a></p>
<p>I have always wondered why SO many wait until the very last minute? Any thoughts on why they do?</p>
<p>My daughter’s small private school really enforces their policy of insisting that all college applications be complete and submitted by December 1 regardless of what the college deadline is. They will make occasional exceptions for the few students who may want to add a school that was not on their list earlier that fall, or if an ED applicant was rejected and really needs to add a school or two.
I don’t know how counselors at large public high schools can hope to keep track of all of their students.
This policy has saved parents and students a lot of misery over the holidays,believe me.
By submitting apps a month early, there is ample time to check with the colleges to make sure the app was received or not before they go on holiday break.</p>
<p>in answer to GA2012MOM: because they can.</p>
<p>my son interprets due by dates as "not due until’ dates.</p>
<p>He has made it a point to be the opposite of me.</p>
<p>What if those college students waiting to the last minute lost power in their house. It is just another way “blame game” gets rationalized by some people.</p>
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<p>These kids are not so “wonderful” and “hardworking” if they waited until THE LAST MINUTE to complete their applications…</p>
<p>waiting until the last moment is nothing new. Back in the dark ages, it used to be standard practice at our HS to skip a day of school and drive up to the local UC to hand-deliver the UC apps the day they were due; or, we all packed into a car and drove to the only open post office that night (before midnight). Of course, UC apps are due Nov 30, so nearly everyone spent Thanksgiving weekend writing essays. And, the same happens today. The only plus factor for California residents is that the main Common App essays are essentially done Nov 30, too, so Jan 1 deadlines are only for supplemnents.</p>
<p>WOW! The CC clock has gone crazy. Has Y2K finally arrived? Doing a CC search now requires that rather than waiting the usual 30 seconds, I should wait upwards of 22,000 seconds. Maybe this is God’s way of curing me of the demon CC.</p>
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<p>Probably raised by parents like me who waits until the last minute to file my 1040…</p>
<p>You’re doing better than I am, ellemenope. I have taken at least one, and sometimes two, extensions on my tax returns for the last several years. This means that I don’t do them until August, or even October. Of course, a crude calculation is necessary in April because the payments have to be made on time. </p>
<p>This thread is making me feel too guilty. I would have been one of those leave-it-to-the-last-minute, not-so-wonderful, not-so-hardworking, students!</p>
<p>My post was in response to ellemenope’s post! But it popped in two posts above…</p>
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<p>My son’s school asks that you give those writing your recommendations as much time as possible to get those done, and they like their notification of whatever schools you are applying to at least two weeks before the deadline. However, they are well aware that their Christmas break is somewhat on the hook to college admissions deadlines. They get their break after about the 10th and if you think about it, they barely have to be there in February. In any event… </p>
<p>The school had list of colleges (one more was added after ED rejection) around the end of November, but son waited until the 30th to hit submit. I too hate the “what if” scenario of the dog ate my dsl line (equiv of eating the homework). Plus, he wasn’t even allowed to consider new years eve plans until they had all been sent, faxed and/or mailed.</p>
<p>My D, who waited until the last minute with several of her applications a couple years ago, IS wonderful and hardworking. She’s just not perfect.</p>
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<p>My mother reared me with respect to the utmost attention to detail and organization. Blame my mommy, haha. :)</p>
<p>In Mass we had a freak ice storm in mid December. Some parts of Mass and NH were without power for almost 2 weeks. Some school systems closed and will not reopen until Jan 5th. Not a good thing for college app procrastinators.</p>
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<p>They are not necessarily waiting until the last minute to complete their applications.Lots of hardworking, conscientious students wait until the last minute to send in their applications, turn in their homework, etc… Many do so because they are perfectionists and cannot let go, thinking they will go over their applications or homework one last time, that they can improve on what they have already done, and so on.
As for the MA freak storm, the students who did not manage to turn in their applications before they lost power ARE NOT procrastinators. They followed a schedule that said that applications are due on Dec. 31, which was well after the storm occurred. They should have had plenty of time to finish their applications had the storm not occurred or the power company been more timely in resuming service.</p>
<p>Not wonderful? My son is taking five AP courses this his senior year and is in marching band, symphony, and jazz band. He has not procrastinated. He has not had time to sleep!</p>
<p>In the early days of online applications, I had a Dean (at another school) that used to pace the hallways in the days before deadline, constantly asking for app number updates. They never matched his expectations, which were formed in the days of mailed applications. Of course, we’d all come in the morning after deadline and the numbers would be slightly up, as expected. He eventually adjusted…it is what it is. The time of submission doesn’t say anything about the quality of the student.</p>
<p>That Dean once asked a large group of students when they hit submit. I think the options were: very early, a few days before deadline, a few hours before deadline, and 11:59 PM. Most students raised their hands for the “a few hours before deadline” option. The President of the student body sheepishly raised his hand after this was over and said that he hit submit a few hours after deadline. :)</p>
<p>I don’t know of many schools that cut their systems off at midnight. Most will leave the door open for a period of time. Not that I encourage anyone to test that…</p>
<p>Many eons ago, my younger brother wrote his essay to Stanford about how his besetting sin was procrastination. He mailed the application the day after it was due. They admitted him anyway. Not that I recommend this approach…</p>