Applying very close to deadlines?

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dfeld31
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Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2011 12:04 pm

Applying very close to deadlines?

Post by dfeld31 » Wed Nov 30, 2011 10:09 pm

Is it frowned upon or a disadvantage to submit your application a day or two before the application deadline? Is someone who submits say a month earlier in a better position? I've had to put it off for a while to take GRE's and stuff so I'll basically be submitting most apps within a week of their deadline.

bfollinprm
Posts: 1203
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 11:44 am

Re: Applying very close to deadlines?

Post by bfollinprm » Wed Nov 30, 2011 11:09 pm

dfeld31 wrote:Is it frowned upon or a disadvantage to submit your application a day or two before the application deadline? Is someone who submits say a month earlier in a better position? I've had to put it off for a while to take GRE's and stuff so I'll basically be submitting most apps within a week of their deadline.

No, deadlines are deadlines.

negru
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Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2010 3:49 pm

Re: Applying very close to deadlines?

Post by negru » Thu Dec 01, 2011 4:54 am

but every time you use the expression "frown upon" your chances drop by another 10%. or they should anyway. why does this expression only appear in the context of academic admissions?

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midwestphysics
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Re: Applying very close to deadlines?

Post by midwestphysics » Thu Dec 01, 2011 6:29 am

negru wrote:but every time you use the expression "frown upon" your chances drop by another 10%. or they should anyway. why does this expression only appear in the context of academic admissions?
:lol: It's doesn't always, watch the initial road trip to Vegas in "The Hangover". It's not PG so I won't quote it.

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Andromeda
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Re: Applying very close to deadlines?

Post by Andromeda » Mon Dec 05, 2011 7:19 am

No one cares. In fact, in most cases if there was a letter that was late a few days (or a transcript late, or some other piece missing) they wouldn't care much and still look at your application. Not recommended of course, but these folks realize that life happens.

physicsworks
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Re: Applying very close to deadlines?

Post by physicsworks » Wed Dec 14, 2011 12:03 pm

What about submitting application on December 15 if the deadline is December 15? Is it OK if one of the recommenders will submit his recommendation on exactly December 15? :|

Minovsky
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Re: Applying very close to deadlines?

Post by Minovsky » Wed Dec 14, 2011 1:45 pm

physicsworks wrote:What about submitting application on December 15 if the deadline is December 15? Is it OK if one of the recommenders will submit his recommendation on exactly December 15? :|
This is a silly question. Of course they will accept it, the deadline hasn't passed yet. Also, the post immediately previous to yours answers your question as well.
Andromeda wrote:No one cares. In fact, in most cases if there was a letter that was late a few days (or a transcript late, or some other piece missing) they wouldn't care much and still look at your application. Not recommended of course, but these folks realize that life happens.
This answer probably applies in most cases. Look at the FAQs of the departments you're applying to. Some explicitly say that it's OK for supplemental material (e.g. recommendations) to arrive late, but some have a separate deadline for supplemental material (which I've found is often 1-2 weeks after the application deadline, like in the middle of January).

physicsworks
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Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 8:00 am

Re: Applying very close to deadlines?

Post by physicsworks » Wed Dec 14, 2011 5:18 pm

Minovsky wrote:this is a silly question. Of course they will accept it, the deadline hasn't passed yet. Also, the post immediately previous to yours answers your question as well.
This is not as silly as it seems to be. For example, at Berkeley there is a deadline on December 19, but there is also a cut-down clock that displays this:

Code: Select all

Application Deadline: 12/19/2011 11:59pm PST
Your application must be submitted in 5 Days 10 Hours 45 Minutes 
That is, you must submit your application before 11:59pm PST.

Minovsky
Posts: 99
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2011 10:05 pm

Re: Applying very close to deadlines?

Post by Minovsky » Wed Dec 14, 2011 6:01 pm

physicsworks wrote:
Minovsky wrote:this is a silly question. Of course they will accept it, the deadline hasn't passed yet. Also, the post immediately previous to yours answers your question as well.
This is not as silly as it seems to be. For example, at Berkeley there is a deadline of December 19, but there is also a cut-down clock that displays this:

Code: Select all

Application Deadline: 12/19/2011 11:59pm PST
Your application must be submitted in 5 Days 10 Hours 45 Minutes 
That is, you must submit your application before 11:59pm PST.
I don't understand what your point is. An application submitted anytime (save the last 60s) on December 19 will be accepted since the deadline has not passed. In theory, you could even send in your application on December 20 if your local time is east of PST. The Berkeley graduate brochure also explicitly states that mailed materials can be postmarked as late as the day of the deadline. The brochure also implies that only complete applications submitted by the deadline will be considered. I still think it is silly to think that something will not be considered when it is submitted before the deadline passes. Now if the deadline was 12/19/11 at 12:00AM, that would be a different story. In my experience however, the deadline in this case would be listed as 12/18, not 12/19. All my experience with deadlines tells me that a deadline of December 19 means "December 19 is the last day applications are accepted" not "December 19 is the first day applications are not accepted".

physicsworks
Posts: 80
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 8:00 am

Re: Applying very close to deadlines?

Post by physicsworks » Wed Dec 14, 2011 6:31 pm

Oops, I thought it was AM, not PM :lol:
That's what happens when you don't sleep well :shock:



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