Freaking out about CSDCAS

[kamtea]

So I'm an out-of-field applicant and am so confused about the CSDCAS with its multiple deadlines. Most of my schools have an orange deadline in early Jan BUT one of them is in Dec (!!!) and some with green deadlines in Feb. But I'm having a nervous breakdown because I just started looking into the CSDCAS and there's a lot of deadlines and verification processes I'm confused by. It's definitely not like other grad program apps. Can someone please walk me through the CSDCAS application process and timeline? Like when I need to have the LOR's ready and transcripts?

I haven't completed my initial application yet, but even that I'm confused by--like what exactly is it? 

I told my evaluators that they will probably submit the letters in December but I'm so worried that I told them the wrong date because CSDCAS requires different deadlines. I'm so confused, please help! Just think that I'm an absolute dummy when you explain things below, please go through each little step! (sincerely, from an out-of-field student who has nobody at their school who knows about SLP apps)

[LaceySpeechie]

I'm only applying to one program that uses CSDCAS, but I think in general it's better to apply as early as possible, just to avoid any problems! My school through CSDCAS has the CSDCAS deadline of December, so I guess I just assumed everything CSDCAS needed to be submitted by then (December 15th). It's best that you send your transcripts to CSDCAS now, because I've heard they can take a while to be verified. I sent one of my transcripts online to CSDCAS and it was verified by them after about two weeks, and the other transcripts I requested to be sent by mail haven't been verified yet, after two weeks. So sent the transcripts to CSDCAS like... now.

On CSDCAS, there are basically four sections. Personal information about yourself, academic information (your transcripts, etc.), supporting information (reference contacts, listing out all your experiences (volunteer, work, etc.), achievements, etc.), and program materials. The program materials section appears to be specific to each school - for example, Chapel Hill asks for the personal statement, a resume, and to identify courses meeting their prerequisites. Entering all of this information isn't very difficult, but is boring and takes a lot of time, so it's better to start ASAP!

Schools might have different deadlines - again, I've only got one school using CSDCAS so keep that in mind! But while my CSDCAS application needs to be submitted by the December deadline, there's a Chapel Hill supplementary application that I'll be able to do after I submit the CSDCAS application, and that has a due date in January. If you go to the websites of the schools you're applying to, there's a good chance they'll explain the deadlines in better detail. Chapel Hill's website explains in detail what needs to be submitted with CSDCAS and when, and then what needs to be submitted with the supplementary application and when that's due.

Basically, I'd say get everything done as soon as you can, although I'm also the type of person to want to do everything far in advance. My goal is to have everything CSDCAS submitted by the end of November, if not earlier.

[Jordyn_M463]

So I would second the person above. The varied deadlines (ie. December, January, February) are when you need to pay that application fee for that school by. It would be safe to assume that everything else needed for your application, (LOR, letter of intent, transcripts, etc) should also be in by the time you pay that application fee. In your case, all of that important supplemental information would already be in there if you have a deadline of December. I would recommend then that is the deadline you give yourself. My advisor in undergrad said to aim for the end of Thanksgiving break. With that being said, my transcripts were not verified by my deadline on CSDCAS, but that did not hurt my acceptance chances. I was still accepted into the school. But, early is always best!