Why can’t a kid send an application on November 1 if the power surge or internet access thing is so troubling?
Unlike the April 15th filing deadline for the IRS- where truly, most taxpayers won’t have all their records, 1099’s, etc. available two months early, I cannot fathom what a HS kid would be waiting for. The HS sends the grades from the last marking period in January anyway but the rest of the application can be ready to go once the kid gets his/her act together.
There is an advantage to having a January 1 deadline. Having later deadlines extends the pain of applying. It’s nice to have all the applications done, and not have that hanging over one’s head too far into the year. If one is a procrastinating type, he/she will apply right before the deadline no matter when it is. What is harder for some kids, IMO, is to realize that some schools have a Nov. 30 deadline (e.g., UC Berkeley) – truly have seen kids miss that one because they just didn’t know.
Has anyone been declined admission due to submitting an application to a private college or university after January 1st? Other than state systems which sometimes fill up before the deadline’s even reached?
My niece was just recently informed that her application for a PhD program would not be accepted because she missed the midnight deadline (before Christmas). She had been polishing her app and waited until the last hour or so to send it. They had server problems–not surprising on the evening of the grad school application deadline for a major university–and the site closed before she could successfully transmit. She called the department the next day: they said tough luck.
I told my sister she should send it by snail mail and/or email anyway. If the problem impacted all of their graduate programs, they might decide at a higher level than the department admin to be merciful.
She is a highly accomplished student with degrees from 2 Ivies, applying to JD/PhD programs. No one is immune.
My DS got an extension e-mail from Vanderbilt. He had begun the application process and sent some materials before the original deadline though, so he did demonstrate some true interest.
DD just received deadline extensions from a few of her stalker schools, including some smaller, more regional ones, along with a few of the big and too often seen (in our mailbox and email boxes) names.
My kid just got an email from Bard about an extended deadline, and had gotten the Vandy email about it not being too late to apply. Both are schools he had asked to be on the mailing list, perhaps in 11th grade, but had never visited, or had further communication with, ever.
Ugh @Consolation. That seems harsh. I have had similar things happen with my kids missing deadlines. Nothing quite that monumental though. So far . . .
I believe that one of the reasons people procrastinate is because they are perfectionists and always second guessing, trying to improve whatever it is they are working on. It will never be perfect, there is always something you can improve. A deadline forces a person to finish up and stop fiddling with something and move on. But then, if it is the 11th hour and something goes wrong – disaster. My husband is still working on an article that he will never finish, because there is no external deadline. There, I said it. It will never be perfect, and will never be done. Fortunately, it is not related to what he does for a living. His work involves deadlines, and ticking clocks, and he does what he has to to meet them. I guess some people need them. Just some musings on deadlines. The good and the bad . . .