January 10th application deadline reminder

Readers, I realize it may seem comically premature of me to start issuing deadline reminders a full month in advance. The January 10th application deadline – the big one, the scholarship priority one, the one that applies to the majority of applicants – is still weeks away. Let’s think about the other things many of you have going on during that time, though. The collective list may include finals, end-of-year workplace budgets, reports, and projects, holiday shopping and planning, travels both near and far, and hopefully a bit of seasonal celebrating and relaxing. That month, which seems to promise loads of available time to work away on your applications, can start looking pretty short pretty quickly.

Those of you shooting for January 10th should be getting in the weeds by now. It’s fine if you’re still updating your resume, working through the application form, and drafting your essays. But for goodness sake, get your recommenders lined up if you haven’t already done so! These folks face many of the same professional and personal demands on their time mentioned above, and will surely appreciate as much advance notice as possible to write their letters for you. Get those transcripts ordered from your prior alma maters, as well. Note that some universities close for as much as a full week between Christmas and New Year’s holidays, and in any case often require several weeks to deliver transcript copies. While it’s true that we won’t require original hard copies of your transcripts until you confirm enrollment at Fletcher, taking care of this now means one fewer task to worry about later.

While 11:59:59 PM EST on January 10th is the literal last second for you to submit for this deadline, you do yourself and us a favor by not waiting until then. It’s important that we receive your application by that time, and we encourage you to do everything you can to ensure all your materials are submitted. Recommendations in particular are a bit out of your hands, though, and provided we receive everything by February 1, we can normally avoid delays in processing your application.

Murray, your Minister of Deadline Reminders and Other Action Items, is licking his chops at the prospect of your applications arriving!