Deadline pushed back?

[drownsoda]

I applied to Fordham University and I could have sworn on my life that the deadline for their GSAS was January 3rd. I got my final letter of recommendation sent in on December 31st, and submitted my application that night. Went back to check on my application status today, and while perusing their website saw that the deadline is January 7th(??) Do schools ever push back deadlines? Perhaps it's possible that I'm going mad, but I'm about 99% sure that the deadline was originally January 3rd. 

 

Also, do early submissions means that your application will be reviewed earlier? I know I only submitted a week early, but was curious about the chronology, or lack thereof, in terms of how they review the applications.

[eeee1923]

Schools have definitely pushed back deadlines a day or so before (usually if there was some sort of issue with the online application system and they got a lot of complaints, or some other reason). The order that your application is reviewed varies from program to program. Some programs review applications on a rolling basis and thus it is most beneficial to get your material turned in as early as they'll accept. Other programs have a set date on which the adcom will start reviewing applications and the chronological order they review them (earlier -> latest applicants, vise versa, or some other order) depends on the program. I wouldn't worry too much since you got your material turned in before the deadline - the committee will most likely not start reviewing applications until after the holidays. 

[12345678900987654321]

Sure. January 3 is a Saturday. The grad secretary probably didn't realize it was a Saturday and didn't change the deadline from the previous years. (Totally something I would do.)

[BeatrizBear]

One of the schools that I applied to pushed the deadline by a week after the deadline had passed. I turned in my application the day that it was due and went back to check on it three days later and suddenly the deadline has been pushed a week. I think this is a bad sign.

[drownsoda]

One of the schools that I applied to pushed the deadline by a week after the deadline had passed. I turned in my application the day that it was due and went back to check on it three days later and suddenly the deadline has been pushed a week. I think this is a bad sign.

 

Why do you think it's a bad sign? 

[BeatrizBear]

Why do you think it's a bad sign? 

 

Well, an extra week is a long time. And there weren't any problems with the online application or anything. They also didn't give an explanation for it either. I would think if it was related to the application or weather or something they would just say it. So maybe they just didn't get enough applicants or didn't like the ones that they got?

[drownsoda]

Well, an extra week is a long time. And there weren't any problems with the online application or anything. They also didn't give an explanation for it either. I would think if it was related to the application or weather or something they would just say it. So maybe they just didn't get enough applicants or didn't like the ones that they got?

 

I don't know if I'd necessarily think it's a bad thing though. Theoretically, if the number of applicants was lower than they expected, that may actually increase your shot of getting in because you'd have less people to go up against, so to speak. 

 

I still have no clue why my program pushed theirs back a couple days, but I didn't really consider the possibility of it being anything bad. I'm actually beginning to question whether or not I even read the deadline right in the first place. With all of the psychic stress I've experienced over the past two months, it's entirely possible that I thought the deadline was earlier than it actually was, or got dates confused. Either way, the Jan. 7th deadline has now passed, so it's just the waiting game on that application at this point.

Edited January 9, 2015 by drownsoda