February 15th – FAFSA priority deadline
March 24th – Widener Accepted Students Day
May 1st – National Candidates Reply Date
The calendar is an everyday part of our lives. We use it to plan, meet deadlines and what time to set our alarm clocks. My personal favorite is going to the gym on January 1st and seeing all new faces as New Year resolutions are put into action. Proof that the calendar modifies our actions and behavior.
Recently some professors have recommended that we synchronize dates with days. In other words, the same dates and days of the week would be the same year after year. I suppose that wouldn’t be bad if your birthday fell on Friday or Saturday every year but not so great if it were Tuesday or Wednesday. Certainly, I could see some advantages and disadvantages to this proposal. I know one pre-requisite when I buy a watch is that it must have a date feature because I tend to look at it a minimum of once a day.
The college search and selection process can put organization of your personal calendar to the test. Deadlines are common and students are penalized for missing them. Early Decision … Early Action … Financial Aid … all of these typically come with a deadline.
Since the new year is in full swing, there are fewer but perhaps more important deadlines that will help with finalizing your college selection process. The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) should be completed by February 15th. Financial Aid packages are mailed in early March. This is the 1st time during the entire college selection process that you will be able to start comparing apples with apples. The middle of March is probably the 1st time you can compare the cost of attendance between the schools you have received an offer of admission.
The most important deadline of all is the National Candidates Reply Date (May 1st). This is the date that students must commit which school they wish to attend. Colleges are required to hold a seat for all the students they have admitted until then.
Widener Admissions 