Silly question - but when are college applications submitted?

[mirabillis]

I know this varies, but what are the general timeframes?

 

We're looking at UC schools, and I believe those are in Nov of Sr year...

 

What about other schools - smaller private colleges? Or out of state (CA) public universities? What about some of the lesser Ivies?

 

Is there a hard & fast timeframe?

[JanetC]

Deadlines are listed on the College Board Big Future website.

[Lori D.]

It really does depend on the school, and it also depends if the school offers an Early Decision or Early Application deadline and then a regular deadline, or just a regular deadline. And some schools have "rolling application deadlines", which means you can apply at any time.

 

However, what I was seeing is that schools that have early deadlines commonly use these dates as their deadlines: Nov. 15 or Dec. 15. I have seen one that was Nov. 1, and a few that were Dec. 31.

 

Then, for the "regular" deadlines, you're usually looking at the 15th of Jan., Feb., or Mar. -- but that can vary, too.

 

If the school is competitive/selective, or also has limited scholarship funds, then you'll want to make sure to get your application in by early November (or before the early application date), to ensure a good chance at acceptance, or having a good shot at scholarships.

 

The FAFSA now opens on Oct. 1, so you can get your financial aid paperwork rolling earlier than even your applications.

 

But... as the previous poster says, the best thing to do is to look up the specific schools at College Board's Big Future college search webpag, and then go to the schools' websites and find the deadlines and make a list for yourself. :) BEST of luck in the college application process! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited December 14, 2016 by Lori D.

[bettyandbob]

After a lot of nagging.

[Arch at Home]

It is important to look for not only application deadlines but also scholarship and financial aide deadlines. We head two that had scholarship deadlines prior to application deadlines and to apply for the scholarship the application had to be submitted. In addition, one had an early acceptance deadline that also required that all financial aid info be submitted at that time also. We found that the more selective the school the more complicated the application/financial aid requirements and the deadlines.

 

HTH

[creekland]

My kids had a deadline of Thanksgiving to have all their apps submitted.  (I imposed that.)

 

However, we have kids at school who decide to go to college in Jan or Feb of their senior year and they can still find places accepting applications.  Many rolling admission schools have late deadlines, sometimes even into summer (but that's usually unofficial - contact them).

 

As others have said, a larger issue can be merit aid and high value scholarships with earlier deadlines.  BUT, I've seen kids who have put in late apps do ok with regular financial aid so I don't think that matters as much.

[SkateLeft]

Some universities have very early application periods! My oldest daughter applied to a couple of schools with scholarship deadlines in mid October. My younger dd was accepted to Iowa State in August, right before the fall of her senior year!

[Mom22ns]

There are schools with rolling admissions that give priority to students who apply early. Ds's first application went in, in August of his senior year. Dd changed her mind after getting more information on her first choice school and did a late application to another school in April.

 

The range is wide! Watch out for scholarship deadlines; they are often earlier than application deadlines. There are often advantages to applying early, but making a decision late, while limiting, can still work out too.

[quark]

The Common Application and UC Application become available in August which means that your student can start working on them at the time. UC's submission period is from Nov 1-30.

Edited December 14, 2016 by quark

[Luckymama]

OP, since you're planning ahead, make a list of all the deadlines for schools your child might be interested in: Early Action, Early Decision (binding, must attend if accepted), Single Choice Early Action or Restricted Early Action (some privates and Ivys), and scholarships through the schools.

 

Then next August check again.

 

My D applied to a very selective scholarship program with deadline of October 14 at a university with a regular scholarship deadline of Nov 1 and a regular admissions deadline of Feb 1.

[mirabillis]

Thanks! I was also thinking as he plans to work toward the Congressional Gold Medal, and that can take up to 8 weeks to process, so when best to have that completed so it's available for admissions time!

 

Thanks. I thought it was a lot simpler than that. Of course not...

 

Is there a huge benefit to applying early admissions in Nov or Dec, as opposed to waiting until Jan or after? Do you have a better chance of admission early on?

[bettyandbob]

Is there a huge benefit to applying early admissions in Nov or Dec, as opposed to waiting until Jan or after? Do you have a better chance of admission early on?

This depends on the school. Some schools have a higher rate of admission during early action or early decision periods. Some schools don't have either early action or early decision, but make decisions and send out notification as soon as students apply. For instance, a few years back VMI was telling applicants don't wait until the January deadline because they typically have most of the acceptances they will send done by December.

 

If your student really wants certain school and you can afford the school early decision can be a good option. If the school is not a financial safety, then early decision is not a good plan because you don't have the option of comparing financial packages.

 

Doing early action is great because decisions roll in before New Year's and that's a nice relief.

 

My dd put in three applications, one early decision and two early action. She got all three and was through with all the anxiety quickly. She did have to tell the two early action schools that she would not be attending. That's part of the early decision requirements where she went, plus it's just better those schools can open those spots to someone else.

 

I personally liked that dd was done with the process quickly. 5 years ago ds stretched the process out so long he eliminated most options by not applying. But he did find a school he really wanted that had a long deadline, so it worked. That was a stressful year in my house.

Edited December 14, 2016 by Diana P.

[goldberry]

It is important to look for not only application deadlines but also scholarship and financial aide deadlines. 

 

Yep. We missed a scholarship that had an October 15 deadline.