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So what exactly is Apply!? Does it have a bunch of electronic apps for colleges? Are the apps in .pdf format or is it a stand alone program (meaning you don't need like Adobe Acrobat or another program to use it)? Do you send the apps to the college via modem or have to print them out? Is it easy to use? Can you type directly on the app or do you just print it out and write on it?

Help please!

By Pmiller on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 07:34 am: Edit

I used Apply on my apps last year, and found it very convenient. It uses adobe, but it's included with the software (I think.) It's really convienient for the name/address portions because you only need to fill it out once. The essays were a little more difficult just because if you type them right on the program there is no spell check, and when you move the cursor around in the essay, it highlights the whole thing, so if you type anything before removing the highlighting you lose the whole essay (it happened a couple times to me on my four short Princeton essays). Other than that I'd recommend it, and the program is probably better this year than last. Best of Luck.

By Sriharsha V. Aradhya on Monday, March 18, 2002 - 03:47 pm: Edit

Some applications are really "ONLINE", and you can send them through the modem. The downloadable forms are usually of two types of Adobe PDFs, One is interactive, you can type directly. other is non-interactive. Just one thing though, if you don't have full Adobe (not the internet download) you can't save what you have typed in the interactive type, you have to print it out right there. But if you have Adobe photoshop or few other software, you can convert the PDFs into postscript files and edit any part of them, just don't edit the form beyond recognition ;-)

By Ivy Wannabe on Monday, March 18, 2002 - 04:15 pm: Edit

Probably the easiest way to apply online is to go right to the admission Web page for each school your list and follow their links to their online application. Sometimes it will be through "Apply." Other names you'll encounter are Embark, CollegeLink, etc. Sometimes there will be a couple different options, often including the Common Application.
If you are applying to Common Application colleges (and that's over 200 schools), you will find that a couple dozen of the member colleges offer a fee waiver (or a reduced application fee) for those who use their online format. You can get that info at www.commonapp.org
If you pick up a paper copy of the Common Application (most guidance offices have them, though they may be out of this year's version by now) there's a handy-dandy check list that makes it easy to see which member colleges offer free online applications.

By cam1mom on Tuesday, March 19, 2002 - 11:12 pm: Edit

Most of the colleges my daughter applied to told us they preferred that you use their "Online" application. One advantage to you is that you will receive your decision sooner, because when they receive it electronically, it goes directly to admissions. When it comes in the mail, it first has to go through a sorting process; then an administrative person has to take all of the information from your application and redo it for the admissions person to look at. That's what we've been told anyway. What we also found is the best way to do it is to just fill in the basic information that is required on the application online. Do not do your essay online or any personal statements. Simply fill in "To be forwarded separately" or something like that. Then send all of your personal information, whether it is essay, personal statement, or whatever else may be asked for, through the mail separately. It is that information along with your transcrips that is scrutinized by the admissions committee, and when they first receive your application online, they create a file for you. Then as the other material comes in, its put into your file. I think it also makes reading your essay and personal statements much more personal.

By Dave Berry on Wednesday, March 20, 2002 - 10:22 am: Edit

>>...when they first receive your application online, they create a file for you.<<

This isn't an online-only phenomenon. Many colleges' paper application forms have a "Part 1" through which the applicant indicates his or her initial desire to apply, fills in basic personal information, and sends the application fee. Upon receiving Part 1, the college creates an applicant file.

This whole electronic- vs. paper-application argument has been raging for some time. I'm an advocate of the traditional paper application because of its capacity to accommodate a more thoroughly distinctive and personal marketing presentation.

Many colleges tend to prefer the electronic app because it's easier for them to handle, as cam1mom notes. However, my contention is that if colleges hate paper apps so much, why don't they eliminate them? BTW, Brown University wants to see a hand-written essay, something that's rather inconvenient to convey over the Web.

As for getting admissions results faster, that would seem to benefit colleges that are of the "move-em-in-move-em-out" mindset. I'd like to think that a college would ponder my app a bit before flushing me from their system.

Call me old fashioned, but I resist this escalating and ever-more-irritating trend of mass production in college admissions. If I'm spending $50 or $60 to apply, then I want someone to notice that I've taken the time to create a distinctive presentation (the paper app). For those who don't care to make a distinctive presentation, there's always the e-app, which (in most cases) costs just as much to submit.

By Holdens sister on Sunday, March 24, 2002 - 07:05 pm: Edit

Dave--You are so right about the "ever-more-irritating trend of mass production," but keep in mind that students can mix and match. In other words, they can compile resumes and write essays on their home computers (or by hand, if they're Brown-bound!) and sumbit these along with other "personal" touches (poetry, cartoons, etc.). The repetitive data, however, can be entered on the computer. This, I think, is especially helpful for students who are using online options like "Apply" or the Common App and who are applying to a whole gaggle of colleges. It's also a blessing for parents who are tired of nagging to get kids started on applications. As long as all information is clearly labeled, colleges will tend not to care if materials come from different places.

By Dave Berry on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 09:36 am: Edit

That's no doubt true, HS (nice screen name, BTW), BUT what I would really like to reveal for our visitors here is "THE TRUTH" about how admissions officers view not only submitted materials but also deadlines. Just cruise some of the other soon-to-be-less-popular college forums out there (after all, aren't ALL the other forums out there destined to be less popular than this one?!) around October 30 and December 30 and you'll see the the skyrocketing angst levels ala: "What does 'Mailing deadline: midnight the 31st' REALLY mean?!!!"

Michelle Hernandez says that those deadlines are just general targets and that big piles of apps lie around for days, if not weeks, until they are sorted and indexed. She even advises applicants not to waste their money on overnight mail due to these "soft" dates.

So, HS, what's THE TRUTH from your end of the admissions telescope? Do you solemnly swear to tell... (and all that)?

By Holdens Sister on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 02:31 pm: Edit

In most admission offices, Dave, where there is a fixed deadline and not a "rolling" policy, no application is even touched by evaluators until the deadline has passed. Typically, "deadline" means postmark date for snail-mail applications, but even Harvard has some wiggle room if a student gets behind schedule. Michelle is right. Save those express-mail fees for celebratory pizza parties in April. But if an application will be even a little late, it's always wise to call and ask for a day or two's extension.(The call will be cheaper than express mail, but I'd advise against using e-mail here because those messages may get stacked up in admission office computers when deadlines near, like commuter flights over LaGuardia.)
BTW, at the vast majority of institutions, admisison folks feel a lot happier if the student has at least registered his or her intention to apply (and paid the application fee, if required), even if the whole shebang isn't finished by the deadline. So that's another vote for the mix 'n match approach--i.e., students can zap an online app to a college at the eleventh hour and get the rest to the post office as promptly thereafter as possible.
Keep in mind that, for colleges, more applications mean more rejections, and more rejections mean greater selectivity and higher rankings. Colleges can't (fairly) count the late applications they refuse. So, if you were an admissions dean, what would you do?

By Dave Berry on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 04:42 pm: Edit

>>So, if you were an admissions dean, what would you do?<<

HS, is this what is known as a "rhetorical" question?

By Holdens Sister on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 05:28 pm: Edit

No, Dave, not exactly. From reading a lot of the advice I've seen you give on this site, I think you know your admissions stuff as well as any dean. (And if you do decide to head an admission office,the college you choose would be lucky to get you.)

But I really WOULD like to hear your opinion (and this is not a test to see if you're dean material--although I used to be a teacher and I do like tests). Do you think admission offices should accept late applications in order to boost their numbers (and selectivity ratings) or is it more ethical to give the advantage to those who DO follow instructions by adhering to application due-dates?

By burningman on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 07:43 pm: Edit

Sounds like a trick question to me, HS... The "or" doesn't separate two true options. Of course it would be more ethical to adhere to the due-dates, but any admissions dean hoping to hang onto his job will take the apps any way he can get 'em... (Just call me cynical.)

By Dave Berry on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 07:45 pm: Edit

Our board seems to be under the influence of a wave of cryptographers lately. I'm guessing that Holdens Sister ("HS") might mean that you were a "High School" teacher. Just a wild guess.

To answer your question, HS, I have to put on two hats. Hat #1 is my "higher-education marketing hat." The word "marketing" should give away my answer: Yes. Higher education is one of the biggest businesses going in these United States and, in order to compete, colleges must do whatever needs to be done to survive. Competiveness "sells," and in order to be competitive, one must drive down acceptance rates. End of story.

Now, to Hat #2, my "idealist ethicist" hat and my emphatic "NO!" answer. I have a special, personal reason for my stand here, one that goes all the way back to my pre-college summer. That year (1965 [can it be?!]), I was in the Pennsylvania State Jaycees tennis tournament, played on the beautiful and now-gone clay courts of Bucknell Univeristy.

I was on my way to a sure-win final match and, therefore, a state championship, when, on Day 2 of the tourney, a highly ranked guy from Pittsburgh showed up and talked the tourney officials into letting him into the draw. Outcome: He beat me in the final. Was that fair or right? You tell me.

Same thing for late apps. Colleges publish deadlines ridiculously far in advance. MEMO TO THE CHRONICALLY LATE: Learn to comply! Simple as that, IMHO.

Thanks for the kind words, HS. Maybe that HS stands for "High Standards."

As for which hat I choose to wear, my answer is a clear, "It all depends." If I'm an admissions dean, it's hat #1. If I'm Dave Berry, admissions advisor, it's hat #2. None of my advisees has EVER been late with an app. I intend to keep my record unblemished.

By Holdens Sister on Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - 02:07 pm: Edit

Sorry about the tourney loss, Dave. Hope you're over it soon.
I think the most important point to be made about admission deadlines is that they CAN be SLIGHTLY flexible, but it's best to warn officials of a delay, as needed.
It's also critical to remember that FINANCIAL AID DEADLINES ARE NOT AS FLEXIBLE. If chapeau #3 is the fin. aid director's hat , then you'll think this way: the fewer aid applications, the less work in my office.
Colleges generally have more demand for aid than they have money to give away, so any reason to disqualify a candidate may seem like a good one.
Applicants must always bear in mind that--just because an admission office has okayed a late application--it does not meet that the fin. aid forms can be late, too.