G. Emergencies: Late Applications and Extensions

It goes without saying: unless you experience an emergency, your application should never be late.

1. John Lennon once said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” Unfortunately, this is true for students working on college applications. Of all the time for an emergency to happen, the first semester of a student’s senior year is obviously one of the worst. If you should become very ill, or have some kind of accident when applications are due, here is some advice for either you and/or your parents:

• As early on in the admissions process as you can, call the admissions office and ask to speak with the representative for your school, or the Dean of Admissions.

• Explain the circumstances of your calling — illness, accident, whatever — and ask for an extension to the application deadline. Try to give the admissions person some idea of how long you may need (two weeks, a month).

• Follow up the phone call with a letter summarizing your conversation, including the name of the person with whom you spoke, and what that person told you to do about requesting an extension. Document any communication with the admissions office — phone or email.

• As soon as is reasonably possible, complete the application.

adMISSION POSSIBLE® TIP! Be sure that explanations about challenges you have faced don’t come across as whiney or “poor me,” but rather as illuminating, descriptive accounts, in- cluding what you have learned or gained from the experience.