creekland Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 I know what each school's deadline is, but for folks on this board, when do you like to see your own students have their applications completed? My thought was by the end of Sept... or perhaps Oct, but I'm a newbie so could be totally out of line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsintheGarden Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 My dd has applied in early August to two schools with rolling admissions. They have already accepted her. Earlier was better for her; she wanted to have the apps done so she could concentrate on her schoolwork and scholarship applications from late August on. We also managed to get the schools to waive the application fee. Ds OTOH, applied to only one school, and it was at the very last minute! The deadline was January 15 at 11:59 PM, and he sent it electronically at about 9 PM. He was our first child, and we hadn't figured we might send him away until over Christmas. He ended up going to the school and is doing very well. The answer to your question depends on the school, their deadline, and the student. GardenMom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Here I am aiming to get ds to get the Common App in and other paperwork done by early October. I figure, sooner the better so he can concentrate on schoolwork. Then if we learn of any other really good colleges, he may apply to them,, too, before their deadlines. But the core 8 or so colleges - asap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen in VA Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Before the deadline! :D Seriously, some colleges have special EARLY deadlines for scholarship applications. Some colleges award money on a "the early bird gets the worm" basis, so if that is the case, earlier is better. And some colleges accept students on a rolling basis so your chances of getting accepted are better earlier on. What we did -- 1) We had each kid apply to a "rolling admission" school. Getting that first acceptance in October or November really reduces the stress! 2) We had our kids really watch the scholarship deadlines. Some schools don't have a separate deadline, but at some schools the scholarship application deadline is as much as 6 weeks earlier than the normal deadline. 3) We had our kids apply Early Action to any schools that had that option. Again, hearing from a school in late December reduces the stress! 4) Then there are all the other schools, which for us all had January 1 or January 15 deadlines. I would have loved the kids to finish all their apps in October, but between senior year schoolwork and all the DIFFERENT essays the different schools required, that wasn't going to happen. We ended up mailing (or emailing) at least two applications right at the deadline. 5) One or two colleges dropped off the list as the deadlines drew nearer. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing! 6) Applying early does show a certain level of organization and interest in the school. That's probably good, but I've never heard that (except in the case of rolling admissions schools) finishing the app early was a great help in getting accepted. 7) We didn't do Early Decision because we wanted to find out ALL of our merit aid / financial aid options. Early Decision applicants are often accepted at higher rates that regular applicants, but only do it if your student is sure he wants to go to that school and if financial aid is not a consideration. If you can get your kid to actually finish all of the apps in early fall, that's wonderful -- and amazing. If you can't, you can commiserate with all the other parents in mid-December who are hounding their kids to actually finish the silly things! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted September 10, 2009 Author Share Posted September 10, 2009 Thanks - it helps to know how/what others think. Sometimes I think about not 'reminding' my son to get the applications in so I can keep my helper/taxi driver for another year... then I remind myself it's probably not in HIS best interest. He hates essays... and needs to write them for everywhere he wants to apply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon in MD Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Before the deadline! :D Seriously, some colleges have special EARLY deadlines for scholarship applications. Some colleges award money on a "the early bird gets the worm" basis, so if that is the case, earlier is better. And some colleges accept students on a rolling basis so your chances of getting accepted are better earlier on. What we did -- 1) We had each kid apply to a "rolling admission" school. Getting that first acceptance in October or November really reduces the stress! 2) We had our kids really watch the scholarship deadlines. Some schools don't have a separate deadline, but at some schools the scholarship application deadline is as much as 6 weeks earlier than the normal deadline. 3) We had our kids apply Early Action to any schools that had that option. Again, hearing from a school in late December reduces the stress! 4) Then there are all the other schools, which for us all had January 1 or January 15 deadlines. I would have loved the kids to finish all their apps in October, but between senior year schoolwork and all the DIFFERENT essays the different schools required, that wasn't going to happen. We ended up mailing (or emailing) at least two applications right at the deadline. 5) One or two colleges dropped off the list as the deadlines drew nearer. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing! 6) Applying early does show a certain level of organization and interest in the school. That's probably good, but I've never heard that (except in the case of rolling admissions schools) finishing the app early was a great help in getting accepted. 7) We didn't do Early Decision because we wanted to find out ALL of our merit aid / financial aid options. Early Decision applicants are often accepted at higher rates that regular applicants, but only do it if your student is sure he wants to go to that school and if financial aid is not a consideration. If you can get your kid to actually finish all of the apps in early fall, that's wonderful -- and amazing. If you can't, you can commiserate with all the other parents in mid-December who are hounding their kids to actually finish the silly things! :D Just watch the deadlines for scholarship and honors college consideration. Gwen's advice is right on target!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Hen Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 DS is finishing up the essay for the common application and has the little essays completed for the 8 he's applying to. I uploaded almost all the home school & secondary forms this weekend to the common application, just need to change the counselor letter from a first draft to a final draft. We're close. Then I was looking over our state's University website. Again. They have a special section titled---Our Committment to Delawarean's --- I hadn't read it so having nothing better to do (ok, had the counselor letter to work on but I needed a break :) ---- inside there, several pages of reading later I discovered that U of DE has rolling admissions for Delawarean's! We went on a tour of UD and didn't hear this. Nothing on their Dates & Deadlines page has anything about rolling admissions for DE Students....:glare: UD is DS fall-back school, his safety school ---I'm just glad I caught this now and not in January. Carole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.