While I too wish that I could have concentrated more on getting situated in this new city, finding a new job, and finishing up my AA (at two different schools), I think the deadline actually made me work quite a bit harder. Of course, my initial response was to the extension, “UGH, SERIOUSLY?”, but I’m pretty happy with my PS and application. Honestly, the PS was the big thing for me and UCLA had SO many resources available for us that, by the time I submitted, I felt pretty confident. I mean, I am still actively biting my nails as to whether I’ll get in or not (I can’t imagine how bad they’ll look by April!), but I did the absolute best that I could with the resources that I had.
I can’t help but imagine that they didn’t say anything about extending the deadline until after November 30th for a specific reason (if not a few).