Parsing "BY" April 15th

[jaypri]

I get that April 15th is the deadline for accepting offers with aid, and more generally applied as a deadline for acceptance of all offers of admission. However, it's consistently described as "BY" April 15, and this is where I'm meeting uncertainty.

To me, "by" something means BEFORE that date, therefore "BY April 15th" means, to me, before 12:00am April 15th.

However, others have interpreted this as meaning before the END of April 15th, i.e. by 11:59pm on April 15th.

Does anyone have a definitive answer for this?? 

[RinseRepeat]

Some of my offers stated midnight on the 15th, but one was noon on the 15th. I think it just depends on the program. Good luck!

[preantepenultimate]

It doesn't answer your question directly, but you might be interested in reading the actual April 15 Resolution, especially if your programs are at schools which support the resolution (there is a list in the PDF). Here's the link: http://www.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/CGS_Resolution.pdf

FWIW, a program from one of the schools on the list specifically told me to respond before 11:59 PM (23:59) on April 15, but of course others may have a different interpretation of the resolution.

[TakeruK]

If you are not sure, you should ask the school specifically. Like others said, many schools clarify their deadline by giving an exact time, such as "by Noon April 15" or "by 11:59:59PM April 15" or "by the end of business day April 15". To me, if no time is given, I would read the deadline as 5PM on April 15 at the school's local time. Typically, in academia, a deadline is given such that the date written/spoken is the last day in which one can take an action. You might remember the application deadlines to work the same way. Typically, you see grant deadlines, conference deadlines, etc. written where if the deadline is May 1, that means May 1 is the last day in which you can take that action.