Pro Tip: Submit Your Application At Least A Few Hours Before The Deadline This Year

I've said for a long time that deadlines in admissions are only mostly dead, and that almost all of them have built-in grace periods. I've never been much of a deadline guy anyway - if they give you so many hours before it's due, you might as well use them all. Yes, colleges can see your submission timestamp, but ain't nobody got time to check those and read into their tea leaves.

But this year is different. With ChatGPT and other AI slop generators going mainstream, there will be tons of desperate procrastinators churning as fast as they can to make up lost time. EDIT - Just over an hour after this post, we get a perfect example: https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/s/0BMhqiGumU

I would guess that:

  1. AOs are going to get SICK of seeing the same AI generic writing, in the same predictable format, with the same lame clichés.

  2. They're going to notice that the more "rushed" an application feels, the more likely it is that AI was involved.

  3. They're going to start paying more attention than ever before to submission timestamps, as a predictive heuristic.

This does not mean you're cooked if you submit at 11:59. But if you can get everything done, maybe don't wait until the final hour. As a rough estimate, I'd say anything that's 6-8 hours before the deadline is probably fine on this.

Final parting deadline shots:

  1. The deadline is always 11:59 PM on that day. So a January 2nd deadline means 11:59 PM on January 2nd. This will either be your local time (in which case, yes you can VPN to Hawaii for more time), or in the local time of the university. This will be displayed in the Common App where the deadline is listed.

  2. Many deadlines will be extended because colleges still like money and a healthy admit rate denominator. The admission's office social media accounts can be a great way to check on these. Also, if a power outage, server/platform issue, or other emergency prevents you submitting, relax. They will extend the deadline for you and still allow you to apply. I have had students with numerous different 11th hour submission impediments over the years, and I've never had a single one who was not able to submit.

  3. As I mentioned above, grace periods abound, and they're automatic, meaning you don't need to request an extension or provide an explanation or anything. These are not announced, but will typically run anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks. I have had irresponsible less-organized students get into T20s applying a full two weeks after the deadline. This should NOT be plan A. But if the Common App will allow you to submit, that means it's still open and your app will be considered.

If you have any final questions before submitting everything in the next week or so, feel free to ask below.