Many Schools Extend Early Admissions Deadline After Freak Winter Storm

When an unseasonal snow storm swept through the Northeast last week, many families were left without electricity. This means no heaters, no warm water, and the worst thing for high school seniors: no computers or internet to use to submit their early applications for college acceptance.
The deadline for many colleges for early application was November 1, 2011. For many students who wanted to apply early to their choice schools, the lack of power in their homes forced them to flock to local coffee shops, bookstores, and other public places that still had electricity to charge their laptops and working Internet connections in order to submit their applications.
“I actually had a nervous breakdown, said Victoria Ngo, a high school student who wanted to apply early admission to Villanova University. Ngo found herself without power and was unable to complete her personal statement, which was saved on her laptop, because the computer’s battery had died. Luckily, Ngo was able to go to her cousin’s home in another city where she could charge her computer and finish her personal statement on time.
Luckily, many colleges understand the stress that their future students are under and are extending their deadlines in order to make life a little easier for the students who were affected by the freak snowstorm. At least 76 schools have extended their deadlines, including Boston College, Columbia University, Dartmouth College, and the University of Vermont. The average extension has been three days, bumping the deadline back to November 4, 2011.
Some schools, such as the University of Chicago and Pomona College, outside the region that was effective are also extending their deadlines in order to help students. This is part of an effort to “be sensitive to the adverse conditions effecting schools and students in the northeast,” as stated by the board of directors of the Common Application.
Sadly, many students are still feeling the last minute crunch. Twitter has seen many students venting about this stressful situation.
“My last college app needs to be in,” said one Twitter user. “If the power doesn’t come back I’ll cry.”
“Still w/o power,” another Tweeted. “I’m trying to use Dad’s laptop to work on my college app at Starbucks. I hate this laptop. Why won’t copy & paste work?”
I guess this just reinforces the old rule that it’s better to be prepared than procrastinate.
“We submitter our applications early, about a week back,” said Judy Fairfull, the head guidance counselor at Doherty Memorial High School in Worcester, Massachusetts. “We learned out lesson from the ice storm three years ago: Don’t wait until the last minute.”
EDUinReview wants to wish everyone who was affected by this storm good luck in getting your applications in on time!
Via The New York Times