Brenda in MA Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Hello all, So -- my son has submitted three application so far through the Common App. I have discovered that in my Guidance Counselor account, next to his name, there is a little red paper icon. When I click on this, I can see his list of colleges and the status of his applications. Two of the three schools that his side of the Common App shows he submitted applications for show in my side with the submission dates. One of them also shows that the college has downloaded the forms. One of the three schools shows in my side of the Common App as "not submitted" even though his side shows "submitted". Has anyone else encountered this issue? I'm not sure whether to have him contact the college or the Common App. I'm leaning towards the Common App since this seems to be an issue on their end when my son's account says a particular application has been submitted, but my end says it has not. Sigh..... Anyway -- just wanted to alert all of you to this in case it effects your student as well. I'd hate for us to keep going along assuming that an application is in when it is not. Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in CA Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Thank you, Brenda! That's good to know. I hadn't checked my CA account for a while -- I took a break after getting my forms in! My son has submitted apps through CA to two colleges, and they both show as "submitted" (and the dates). I would guess that your son's problem must be a CA issue ... I hope it gets resolved quickly! :glare: Here's an issue that we had -- I am posting it here in case it helps others. For two of the schools, it took two full days after we paid the application fee before my son was able to actually submit the application. (These schools used, I think, Sallie Mae to process the fee.) The first time it happened, I got impatient and tried step 2 (paying the fee) again (since the charge hadn't shown up on my credit card, even as a "pending" charge, after we waited the 2 days they told us to wait), and yes, we were charged twice ... (I did get a prompt refund from the school.) So .... one more reason not to wait until the very last minute! My son had finalized his application, so we paid (we thought) the application fee ... then had to wait 48 hours to actually submit the application to CA. It sounds like (from Brenda's story) there may be issues even after you are able to submit the application, so doing all this *more* than 2 days before the deadline would be (for many other reasons, too!) a good idea ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Ds has submitted 2 apps. Both say 'not submitted' on my side. Ugh. But, thank you for the heads up... BTW, he submitted them 9/18 and 9/19. Did your ds submit them all the same day? Or was the one that shows 'not submitted' submitted last? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in MA Posted September 24, 2013 Author Share Posted September 24, 2013 BTW, he submitted them 9/18 and 9/19. Did your ds submit them all the same day? Or was the one that shows 'not submitted' submitted last?Two of his three apps were submitted on 9/14/13, so over a week ago. One of them was downloaded by the college, the other one says "not submitted". I think we'll follow up with the CA tomorrow. I'll let everyone know what we find out. Both of these were to schools that do not have an application fee, so delays due to paying the fee should not have been an issue. Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 Any update? I contacted CA on 9/23. They responded on 9/24 to make sure that the student had actually submitted. I responded on 9/24 with screen shots. No response after that. I just submitted another ticket with the screen shots again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in MA Posted September 30, 2013 Author Share Posted September 30, 2013 Sue, No, I have not heard any response either. I sent in a ticket on 9/24 and got a response shortly thereafter that they are working on it. I just checked the CA account, and the status issue is still there. I am thinking of having my son call the college involved and ask if they received his application. If they have not, perhaps they can put some pressure on the CA folks to resolve the issue because they may be wondering how many other students have applied but whose applications they haven't received. Sue, thanks for the update. I'll update if anything changes on our end. Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in MA Posted September 30, 2013 Author Share Posted September 30, 2013 An update -- I spoke to the Ad Comm at the college in question. They checked from their end, and they say that they have everything that was submitted. So I'm relieved about that. I guess we'll just have to wait for the CA to fix their status page, which obviously is not correct. Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 FIY: Common App has a facebook page where they post updates about their work on the software. They have a link to a list of "known issues and progress updates" https://appsupport.commonapp.org/ics/support/kbanswer.asp?deptID=33013&task=knowledge&questionID=931 Sue and Brenda: you might want to check your spam filter settings. If you're waiting to hear back from us, its likely that there is a SPAM filter involved. Check your SPAM mailbox, and then add { commonapp.net } to your contacts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 I had ds call the school that has not acknowledged his application. They said there is a delay with the common app, and they hope it will be resolved in the next few weeks. I called back, curious about the delay. The first person talked about a technological problem that would be resolved in a few weeks. When questioned further, she sent me to a second person, apparently ds's particular admissions officer. The admissions officer was fairly vague. She said sometimes they experience glitches and they are resolved within a few weeks. She said that it can take weeks for an application to arrive through the common app because they are not sent one at a time but in batches. This is not the first year this school has used the common app. She encouraged me to have ds apply directly through their website. Well, isn't that special? I get the impression that when the student hits submit, the common app kidnaps the application and holds it until the school pays the ransom. As a lifelong programmer, I'm just speechless. ETA: I just realized these 2 schools have no application fee. It makes me wonder if this is the service they offer to schools with no application fee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 She said that it can take weeks for an application to arrive through the common app because they are not sent one at a time but in batches. This is not the first year this school has used the common app. WHAT???? :banghead: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara H Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 As a lifelong programmer, I'm just speechless. ETA: I just realized these 2 schools have no application fee. It makes me wonder if this is the service they offer to schools with no application fee. It boggles the mind doesn't it? So many of these problems seem just incomprehensible for a system that was designed for 2013. The customers of the Common Application are their member colleges. So even if that college isn't charging students an application fee they are paying (usually around $2 a student) to the Common Application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 This response from my second inquiry about the disparity in submitted/not submitted on the student/counselor account: We are looking into this for you and will get back to you once we have a solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Although both apps ds submitted, still say 'not submitted' on my recommender's account, I did notice something new. Using the little red icon next to his name to bring up the college list, a date of 10/8/13 is in the SR column of the Forms Download Dates section for one college. Anybody want to hazard a guess as to what SR means? Other columns are labeled ED1, ED2, FW, OR, MR, and FR. I imagine the first 2 have to do with early decision. Help Center was not helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MysteryJen Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Hi Sue, I am a long-time lurker, since the first board. But I had to actually post to this. I think our sons are applying to the same school. I am having the exact same problem with the CA and the red list on the counselor side. SR is the school report. I have two schools that say, not submitted on my side, but the school report is downloaded. My son called one school in question (the one in FL) and they said that it was a Common app problem. They could see that my son submitted but they could not access the application. However, that school downloaded the report on 10/8 as well. We are having a host of problems with recommenders being able to set up accounts. It seems that I submit a ticket every day and get the same response. They are aware of the problem and are working on it. I figure that if they have the transcript and course descriptions, then they must have the application. Right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in MA Posted October 11, 2013 Author Share Posted October 11, 2013 Sue, The SR is for the School Report. My son's account still has this discrepancy, but only with two of his five schools. On at least one of the ones that says "not submitted", that school shows a date that they downloaded the school report. We've also gotten confirmation from both of the "not submitted" schools that they know that my son did apply there, so at least I feel good about that. Of the three folks my son asked for recommendations, one of them has completed the process successfully, one shows as "started", and one as "invited". We haven't heard from the other two that they had any problems accessing the recommender side of things. Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Thanks Jen and Brenda. Ds has invited 3 teachers. 1 has submitted. The other 2 still show as invited. 1 of those is technologically challenged. I don't know if they have actually tried or not. I'm not pushing it because the schools only required 1 recommendation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MysteryJen Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 One of DS1's gave up and submitted offline. That took the better part of the morning to figure out. I think it was mentioned before, but you can just invite someone without their email and then the paper form will show up to download in the student's account. One is trying again on Sunday. He wasn't able to set up an account at all last week. The third is his boss and I haven't heard anything yet. I hate that they are having problems, I mean, they are already doing him a huge favor. Everything should be easy for them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura in CA Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Anybody want to hazard a guess as to what SR means? Other columns are labeled ED1, ED2, FW, OR, MR, and FR. I imagine the first 2 have to do with early decision. Help Center was not helpful. SR is the school report. I am also wondering what all those abbreviations are. I had figured out SR and the EDs, and I think MR is mid-year report and FR final report. Still scratching my head about OR (optional report?) and FW. :confused: Anyone? I looked through all the CA FAQs ... couldn't find any explanation of these abbreviations. Even on the chart of which schools require which forms, there is no key. :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 I am also wondering what all those abbreviations are. I had figured out SR and the EDs, and I think MR is mid-year report and FR final report. Still scratching my head about OR (optional report?) and FW. :confused: Anyone? Given the order of OR, MR, and FR, perhaps OR is the original report. That makes sense then that it is followed by the mid-year report and the final report. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 FW might be fee waiver? just guessing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 Based on the tabs for the student: School Report, Optional Report, Mid Year Report, and Final Report seem reasonable. Fee waiver sounds reasonable as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 The original issue seems to be fixed now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in MA Posted November 21, 2013 Author Share Posted November 21, 2013 The original issue seems to be fixed now. Thanks Sue, it's fixed in my son's account now, too. Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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