STANFORD PHYSICS APPLICATION DEADLINE

[Thu.berc]

I'm applying to stanford physics and there's some ambiguity about their application deadline that I can't sort out.

 

Their web page says that "applications should be complete by the deadline, Tuesday December 17 2013".

 

I have an exam tomorrow morning so I wanted to try and figure out how much time I have tomorrow to finish my application, so I phoned their graduate admissions staff to ask if there was a cut-off time for applications tomorrow.

 

She was extremely unhelpful, and seemed annoyed at my call, asking me what the application says (it doesn't say, which is why I was phoning) and then said that she doesn't know, and that it might even be a midnight deadline. Then she said "wait you know what? if it's a midnight deadline then maybe the deadline is tonight? at midnight on 17 is just after 11:59:59 tonight. i would submit tonight to be sure". This seemed to be a guess that she pulled out of thin air and refused to check with anyone.

 

The wording on the website *could* possibly be interpreted to mean that the application has to go in BEFORE the 17th, but this seems unnecessarily misleading if that's what it means, since all other schools state the day on which you must submit the application and usually even give a time.

 

It would be extremely helpful to know if I have until tomorrow night to finish the application. Given that I can't get a straight answer out of the grad admissions secretary, I was wondering if anyone knew anything about how stanford advertises and treats its deadlines.

 

Thanks!

[ratlab]

I think you're seriously overthinking this - graduate programs would say "by the end of Tuesday the 16th" if they wanted it midnight on the 17th.

 

Generally, if something is due X day, then if you do it any time on X day, you're fine.  The only thing I would try to do is submit it before the close of business on the 17th so they can mark your application as "complete" in the system on the 17th, but I think it won't matter as long as you submit tomorrow.

Edited December 17, 2013 by ratlab