<p>So I'm applying ED to Columbia and having an argument with my dad about when the application is due. Columbia's website says it's due by midnight ON November 9. Does this mean it's due like 11:59 on November 8 or 11:59 on November 9?</p>
<p>It almost always means 11:59 PM, Nov. 9. But in case of difficulties, unanticipated problems, or the alternate meaning, plan on submitting by noon, Nov. 8. Why cut it close?</p>
<p>um, actually it’s due the 8th, not the 9th. Details are here:</p>
<p>[Early</a> Decision | Columbia Undergraduate Admissions](<a href=“http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/first-year/early-decision]Early”>Early Decision | Columbia Undergraduate Admissions)</p>
<p>Always helps to read those dates correctly. Which is exactly why you should always submit earlier than the deadline.</p>
<p>Stop arguing and go get your app submitted.</p>
<p>The web site (thanks for the link niceday) states, “All application materials must be postmarked by November 1 (extended to November 8 for 2013).” Obivously a postmark on 11/8 would be equivalent to an electronic time stamp anytime on 11/8.</p>
<p>They have already given you a one week extension - don’t push your luck.</p>
<p>Get it submitted ASAP. And don’t even ask what time zone it is referring to.</p>
<p>Not that I’m recommending this, but…</p>
<p>Actual postmarks are fairly rare this day and age. In an age of electronic postage, what would stop you from buying an electronic stamp before midnight Friday, which would then have the Friday date on it, and then dropping it in the mail on Sunday? Nothing, unless you took a look at the tracking records, which they are unlikely to do.</p>
<p>Still, turn it in now!</p>
<p>I’m going to come across as the most curmudgeonly old fogey there is but … it’s pretty shocking to me that there appears to be a number of high school-aged people, applying to elite college … who can’t seem to read a web page or figure out basic time or date concepts.</p>
<p>But then again, there were millions of people who also thought a millennium started on the year 2000 (instead of the correct 2001). ;)</p>
<p>There’s also a large cohort that think the rules, the odds, and the laws of physics don’t apply to them, but I think that goes with the territory of being a teenager.</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>Very true. ;)</p>
<p>This inability to read the website is right up there with the myths. I love this school, I have to go or I’ll just die. Do I need a SAT 2? And it’s usually about competitive places.</p>
<p>I think OP just meant which date does midnight fall on (which he can figure out other ways.) But sometimes, I want to tell kids, if you can’t figure out the app requirements, phone numbers, and all that, don’t apply. [Grumble.]</p>