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Officially,
no distinction is made in the college admissions offices between Internet-based
and paper applications. Each application that passes through the admissions
offices gets the same amount of attention regardless of the transmission medium.
This is, of
course, true. It does not mean, though that you should be indifferent between
these types of applications.
The
Latest Trends
Electronic
applications have become increasingly popular over the past few years. They have
become more user friendly and their security features have improved
dramatically.
"Business
school admission offices have been blazing the trail, so to speak, with regards
to online applications and, in fact, many business schools no longer accept
paper applications. While the admission offices have been lagging their
b-school counterparts, the increasing trend in online college applications is
also clear. In fact, in 2003, at least 47% of high school students submitted at
least one of their college applications online and 35% of all applications were
submitted online. We view this as a
positive trend and we do encourage our clients to submit their applications via
the Internet when feasible." states David Petersam,
President of AdmissionsConsultants.
Electronic
applications have numerous advantages over the traditional paper college
applications.
-
Time
efficiencies -- This is a no brainer. Many services, such as embark,
allow you to complete much of the information (family background, SAT
scores, grades, etc.) just once for all of your applications.
-
Fewer
worries -- You will receive a confirmation the application was sent.
Print this out and keep it. You will not have to worry about FedEx or UPS
missing the deadline or, heaven forbids, losing your application!
-
Save
money -- Many schools will actually offer you a slightly discounted fee
if you submit your application online.
-
Time
savings -- You will use less time requesting applications and you will
not need to allow for 1 or more day for mail delivery. This is particularly
useful for applicants who decide to send in that one last application before
the final deadline...
-
Fewer
formatting concerns -- There is no need to fret over how to type
something into a small box like you would have with the paper application.
Simply enter the information correctly in the electronic version and let the
admissions office print it out themselves.
-
Convey
technological proficiency -- You will have to use computers and the
Internet in college. Make the admissions office aware that you are
comfortable using technology.
A Few
Words of Caution
Be sure to
save your on-line work frequently. You don't want to invest 45 minutes on your
applications just to lose your Internet connection and have to start all over
again.
Be sure to
save this same work to your hard drive every so often. It happens every year
that some school's server crashes and applicants lose their on-line
applications.* To be sure this doesn't happen to you, save your work to your
hard drive periodically. If you can not do this, at least print it out once in a
while. By doing this you will at least have all the information you need to
re-enter right in front of you.
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