Application Deadline -- Delivery Problem

[LiteratureMajor]

Would someone please offer insight to how this situation will be handled by this university's graduate office? The application deadline was for January 1. I sent my application materials via UPS on 12/30 for Next Day Air delivery on 12/31. Upon tracking the delivery status I found a note from UPS stating that the "receiver is on a holiday and delivery will be attempted when the receiver returns." I am sick to my stomach with worry. Why didn't the university set the deadline for the last open-campus day instead of a time when the entire school was bound to be closed? Is my application null and void because UPS could not deliver due to the university being closed? I've never been faced with this situation before and am very concerned at this point.

[JustChill]

Well, did you contact the department to tell them that you're sending your materials on the last day? Some programs have a note on their website which asks applicants to let them know if for some reason you are forced to wait til the last minute to submit the application. I would definitely suggest contacting the department on Monday morning.

[rising_star]

You'll be fine, try not to worry about it.

[LiteratureMajor]

Well, did you contact the department to tell them that you're sending your materials on the last day? Some programs have a note on their website which asks applicants to let them know if for some reason you are forced to wait til the last minute to submit the application. I would definitely suggest contacting the department on Monday morning.

Thank you for your response. I will certainly take your advice and contact the department tomorrow. Because I had initially begun preparing for application season several months ago, it truly upsets me that something like this has happened. The school did not post any special instructions, just a list of deadlines. There was a mix-up with ETS regarding my GRE scores, which then caused me to hold my application materials until the problem could be resolved (as per the university's request that all applicants submit their supplemental materials in ONE packet).

[APHI224]

Why didn't you just send everything in online? All my applications were online, they didn't want any paper supplements.

[captiv8ed]

I had a few applications that wanted supporting material sent by mail. Maybe that is what happened to the OP.

[intextrovert]

Why didn't you just send everything in online? All my applications were online, they didn't want any paper supplements.

Most English Ph.D. programs require an online application, but then you have to send at least a 15-25 page writing sample to the department through the real mail (sometimes with other supplementary materials). Of the 12 English programs I applied to, only 4 had a place to upload the writing sample on the online app.

Also, to the OP: I've heard over and over that this is nothing to worry about. They weren't even open, which means they haven't started to review. The general consensus seems to be that programs are not nearly as strict about deadlines as they seem. Plus, you had it there on time - they just weren't there to answer the door! No worries.

Edited January 3, 2010 by intextrovert

[growing19]

Agree with intextrovert. You were very responsible and made your best effort to get the application in on time. I'm just trusting that the pre-deadline postmark on my materials is sufficient, and that schools will be understanding about deadlines that fall on holidays or weekends. Others who applied last year have said it was not an issue. For example, in the midst of stressing over this, I checked back on the website of one school that I'm applying to, which cautions about "in office" deadlines, and discovered a little note buried a few lines below that deadlines falling on holidays/weekends will be observed on the next business day (which would be Monday 1/4 for the 1/1 deadline). I'm not even sure we should contact the departments or admissions offices - but I'd like to hear other opinions on that.

Best of luck to you!

Edited January 3, 2010 by growing19

[LiteratureMajor]

Agree with intextrovert. You were very responsible and made your best effort to get the application in on time. I'm just trusting that the pre-deadline postmark on my materials is sufficient, and that schools will be understanding about deadlines that fall on holidays or weekends. Others who applied last year have said it was not an issue. For example, in the midst of stressing over this, I checked back on the website of one school that I'm applying to, which cautions about "in office" deadlines, and discovered a little note buried a few lines below that deadlines falling on holidays/weekends will be observed on the next business day (which would be Monday 1/4 for the 1/1 deadline). I'm not even sure we should contact the departments or admissions offices - but I'd like to hear other opinions on that.

Best of luck to you!

Thank you. I also agree with this logic and hope that it applies to this particular university. I do have some reservations about contacting the department in the event that this is a non-issue in their eyes and prompts them to be a bit annoyed that I am following up to confirm receipt. And of course on the other hand if I don't follow up to be sure my materials reached the proper recepients, I would be plagued with not having contacted someone quickly enough. How should I go about finding a happy medium? Oh, and to clarify, these are the supplemental materials that are in limbo. The actual application and transcripts were previously submitted.

[rainy_day]

Thank you. I also agree with this logic and hope that it applies to this particular university. I do have some reservations about contacting the department in the event that this is a non-issue in their eyes and prompts them to be a bit annoyed that I am following up to confirm receipt. And of course on the other hand if I don't follow up to be sure my materials reached the proper recepients, I would be plagued with not having contacted someone quickly enough. How should I go about finding a happy medium? Oh, and to clarify, these are the supplemental materials that are in limbo. The actual application and transcripts were previously submitted.

I would wait until the end of this week, giving them some time to process ALL the applications that are coming in their door, and then write a quick, "I want to confirm that you received all the pieces of my application..."

[grad_wannabe]

I had a weird delivery problem last night - I submitted an application online at 11:30 pm ON the due date, 01/05 (I'm the same time zone as the school). Cutting it close, i know! A box popped up that said, "Your application was successfully submitted on 01/06/10." Cue my freak out and email to the admissions office, "Oh no! I swear I submitted it on 01/05! Will this show as 'late' on my application?"

Checked my online status this morning - the very same system that told me 01/06 last night now says, "Your application was successfully submitted on 01/05/10."

Cue my second email to admissions: "Uh, SlideRoom now correctly says I submitted on 01/05, I guess everything's okay now?"

Finally got an email back from them: "I'm sure that's fine."