<p>so, why do colleges have a January 1 deadline when no post offices are open?</p>
<p>even the IRS says the 16th if the 15th is a Sunday…</p>
<p>egad, imagine the colleges are more draconian than the IRS</p>
<p>Post offices are now closed on Jan. 2 in honor of Gerald Ford. So now mail till Jan. 3rd.</p>
<p>Why is it important to find an open post office? </p>
<p>Accessing the USPS web site is not much harder than getting on College Confidential! With the purchasing and PRINTING of your own postage available at USPS, the deadlines and post marks have become a thing of the past! Purchase your labels on January 1st and drop it in the mailbox when you are … finished! </p>
<p>Your application will probably not be touched until some day late in January, if that early. Enjoy the fact that your “cheap” package will be housed next to hundreds of very expensive overnight envelopes … all waiting for someone to process it.</p>
<p>Xiggi, you are brilliant! What a good idea!</p>
<p>so post offices are closed three days in a row!!! how smart is that? when people are sending in payments, etc, it does damage to commerce, etc</p>
<p>sorry, but a closed post office day after a 3 day weekend is really really dumb</p>
<p>and in no way honors Ford…what a farce</p>
<p>Don’t procrastinate and it’d be a moot point.</p>
<p>CGMom, is your beef with the US Postal Service or the with the colleges with a January 1 deadline? </p>
<p>The decision to honor Geral Ford has an impact on all federal offices. For what it is worth, the second day of January seemed to have been a pretty judicious choice. The cynical may want to focus on the fact that not much would have been done anyway. Others may think it is pretty nice for hard working government employees to have a bit more time with their families. </p>
<p>If your issue is really about the colleges, I think that the overwhelming majority of the schools do accept online applications, or would show great understanding for the delay caused by the unfortunate passing of Geral Ford. However, allow me to repeat that it is extremely easy to make the closing of the post offices a moot point by using a prepaid and dated postage label. Actually, I would recommend everyone to send his or her admission material via the USPS Priority Mail. The cost is minimal and you have a nice documentation in the form of the receipt. </p>
<p>Have a wonderful 2007 … starting on 1/3/2007!</p>
<p>two beefs- if the colleges just said January 2, much less stress and confustion</p>
<p>as for the post offices closed, gee COMMERCE, not just applications- money FLOWS through the mail…if my credit card payment arrives a day later, interest, etc</p>
<p>you must look beyond college applications and look at BUSINESS</p>
<p>a bit more time, sure, but three days in a row with no mail hurts senior citizens looking for checks, hurts small businesses waiting for payments, slows down commerce, etc…</p>
<p>sometimes you have to look at the BIG picture and shutting down a pseudo government agency to honor someone is just for show</p>
<p>guess granny will have to wait for checks…and the interest earned by credit card companies cause payments are coming in a day later, woohoo, making out like bandits</p>
<p>see, a token gesture has far reaching repurcusions, just an fyi</p>
<p>as well, with the colleges, Jan 1 falls on a monday, so the 31st is on a sunday, so the REAL date is Dec 30 for a postmark, kind of a mute point to say the 1st…why bother, why not look at a calendar, that’s a thought, and say, gosh this year the 1st is a MONDAY, so lets say the 2nd or the 30th…as some people can’t drive to the airport on New Years Eve…so saying the 1st is really silly, cause it is meaningless…</p>
<p>the IRS looks at the calendar and if the 15th is a saturday or a sunday, the move the date to the monday, what a concept!!! and thats the IRS</p>
<p>guess all Federal employees should work like the republican congress did, 3 1/2 days a week, if we were lucky, these 5 day weeks are gonna kill em</p>
<p>and xiggi, some people actually DON"T have computers, yep, some people can’t afford them, and for some living in small towns, getting on the library computers, etc isn;t so easy, but it is nice that you know that not everyone is well off enough to have all the benefits you do</p>
<p>some of us see that not everyone is as fortunate to have a comp-uter in the comfort of their homes and that it for some finding a computer may not be as easy as you seem to think</p>
<p>so to say, well jsut sit at your computer and do it online is kind of arrogant, imo…</p>
<p>as well, you are assuming that eveonyone has credit card access…some don’t…some can’t set up accounts online, etc…have you ever thought that there are those students that don’t have access to computers as easily as you do, don’t have access to credit cards as easily, etc</p>
<p>to be honest, until you realize that much of the country isn’t rich, or even comfortable, etc., as you are, will you see that decisions made by the government, the post office etc DO have a major impact on peoples lives</p>
<p>my H owns a small business, and checks coming in the mail so he can take them to the bank to be deposited so HE can make payments to his suppliers etc., well not being able to do that for three days in a row has a ripple effect…and $$$$ is involved for many</p>
<p>say my credit card payment is due on the 5th, and i plan to mail on the 2nd so it arrives in time, and earn interest on my OWN money for an extra day, instead, now if I mail it on the 3rd, it may get there late, causing me a late payment penalty, and if I mailed in on the 30th, they would get in ON the 2nd, and i would lose a few days interest</p>
<p>and yes Xiggi, this is how people do their finances…no need to mail in a payment early if interest isn’t being charged on the loan…and timing is everything, so to suddeny take away a postal business day as a token to honor a man is just poor judgement, and coming from a Prez who claims to understand business, it kind of silly until you realize that business will make money on the interest for payments they receive a day or two later…</p>
<p>How about sending it out well before these dates, so you don’t even have to worry about this? Procrastination costs you a lot of money and time in life.</p>
<p>we aren’t just talking about college applications, there is a much bigger world</p>
<p>and my D has a friend who had some family issues and was deferred from two schools, and the new financial issues have caused her to do some new applications now</p>
<p>you all act as if life doesn’t happen</p>
<p>sure, you should send them in earlier, of course, but things do happen with people and life isn’t so simple for many, as you all seem to assume</p>
<p>when you are in the real world and see that all isn’t peaches and cream, you will understand</p>
<p>but hey, live with rose tinted classes</p>
<p>when my Ds other friends grandma suddenly died, guess she should have rushed over to the librar and the computer…yeppers</p>
<p>CGM, I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry I bothered answering to your post – and tried being nice and helpful! </p>
<p>What is wrong with you?</p>
<p>Post offices were open saturday am - in most of the country anyways - so it is only an inconvenience for everyone! - but I am sure that schools will honor things that are post marked late because of the recent happenings - as Americans we will honor a wonderful man on tuesday - who happened to pass away - how inconvenient is that??? Get a grip CGM… Tuesday has been declared a National Day of Mourning - lets show some respect - it affects everyone in pretty much the same ways so patience is a virtue :)</p>
<p>And if you are near a major airport, the PO stays open 24/365. No holidays there. And most apps go out online, anyway. Many people pay bills online now, too. Yes, it is inconvenient, but it’s not like this happens very often. President Ford should be honored. He humanized the White House - as he said when in the White House, “I am no Lincoln, I am just a Ford.” What a wonderful, humble man.</p>
<p>So Xiggi, One can purchase postage (and postmarks) on Jan 1 and then mail the application a week later? But that would be UNETHICAL !!! Imagine the responses a student would get if he started a thread: His parents want him to stay home and finish his applications but he wants to go to Cancun from Christmas to New Years with his buddies; His friends have all been accepted ED, but he has a dozen applications to finish. His plan is to return from vacation and buy postage on the internet on Jan 1 and complete everything by Jan 8, just in time to watch the BCS bowl. What kind of replies would he get?</p>
<p>NJres, the key word is … moderation. </p>
<p>My suggestion should NOT be considered a mechanism to delay an application by 7 days while vacationing in Cancun! It is meant to eliminate mad dashes to the post office by parents worrying about missing the midnight deadline. Also, in this case, it does give an extra day because of the closing of the post office on January 2nd.</p>
<p>For the record, it’s possible that the USPS might reject postage labels that are BLATANTLY late. However, I do know that a 24/48 hours delay does not cause a rejected envelope.</p>
<p>okay, we are trying to do this online, to purchase today and mail tomorrow, what am I looking for on the usps website. Postage? Prepaid? How do I buy a date-stamped item. Sorryyyyyyy</p>
<p>Seeing as most federal things will be closed tomorrow - I would just be at the post office at 8am on wednesday - may be a nice idea to email the admissions office that it is coming - and mention that because of the National Day of Mourning - and New Years Day being a holiday - I am sure this will suffice 
- and send it overnite mail to boot</p>
<p>seriously, we have the common app. supplement, which cannot be submitted online, and needs to be mailed with today’s date. Can someone help me with where on the usps website is this option to print postage at home. Pretty please?</p>