When is it "too late" to send my applications?

I have three applications left. All of them are regular decision, and the deadlines aren’t until January. But I want to get them done early. However, it’s late November, and I worry that this is too late to stand a chance at admissions, especially since they’re all quite selective. Is it too late?

what do you mean? you’re fine as long as you get them in by the January deadlines.

Are you kidding? There will be people submitting applications at 11:59 on the day of the deadline and they will still get admitted.

@paraguas @NorthernMom61 Okay, thanks. I just get worried about sending them in. I don’t want to be the person who puts it off until 11:59 before the deadline, and so I’ve been putting pressure on myself to finish early. I guess I’ve made myself too worried…

if that worries you, then just try to apply a few days before the deadline. colleges won’t look at the day you sent in your application as an advantage or disadvantage, though, even if they’re selective.

Applying too late is applying after the deadline. If you make a schedule for yourself and keep to it you should be fine.

Last year when my daughter was applying to schools we made a list of her schools in order of deadlines, early action and regular decision, then we set an “in house” deadline about 10 days before that deadline as her goal. She made sure she got things done by then, that way if there was any kind of technology glitch (our end, Common App, or the school) or any other problem, there was time to fix it before the deadline. Take a deep breath, you will get through this. One advantage of doing them early is you can move on to other things while you wait for the decisions.

Unless these schools practice rolling admissions there is literally no benefit to submitting the app earlier.

Okay, thanks everyone! I’m glad I’m not too late. I wanted to get everything in by the early decision dates (Nov. 1 and Nov. 15) even though I’m regular decision, but I guess I’m just being too hard on myself for not being able to get everything in that early.

Just make sure that you have requested everything you need from your school before your winter break. It might be hard to get something sent by your school when it is closed or certain teachers or counselors are away during the break.