Caveat College · Applications · Free tool
Each college's plan and date, the days left, a checklist per application, and the dates to ask for letters and transcripts. For students, families, and tutors or counselors with a caseload.
Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the College application season kit, $29 for 16 items.
Add each college once. The tracker counts the days, builds the checklist, sets the dates to ask for letters and transcripts, and flags early decision conflicts.
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Everything stays in this browser on this device; nothing is sent anywhere. In tutor or counselor mode, use initials or a code for each student rather than a full name.
The plan decides what a deadline commits you to. These are the general meanings; each college publishes its own version, and its page wins.
Binding. If admitted with enough aid, you attend and withdraw your other applications.
Binding, like early decision, with a later deadline (often in January).
Not binding. You hear early and can still decide by the reply date, usually May 1.
Not binding, but the college limits your other early applications. Read its rules.
Not binding. The standard deadline; decisions usually arrive in spring.
Applications are read as they arrive. Earlier is usually better; seats and aid can run out.
Applying by this date can mean better odds for housing, honors or scholarships.
The lead times are ours. The tracker suggests asking for recommendation letters four weeks before a deadline and requesting a transcript two weeks before. Many schools ask for more notice in the fall rush, so if your counselor sets an earlier date, use theirs.
Aid has its own dates. The FAFSA for a school year usually opens October 1 of the year before. Colleges set their own priority dates for the FAFSA and, where they use it, the CSS Profile. Add the priority date to each college and it appears on the timeline.
Application season runs on dates that differ by college and by plan. This tracker keeps them in one place and turns each one into the smaller deadlines that come before it.
Part of College · Applications in the Caveat Suite
Add your first collegeThe example colleges (Northfield College, Lakeshore State University and the rest) and their dates are made up, set in the current application season. Deadlines in the tracker are the ones you enter; always confirm them on each college's own admission and financial aid pages. CSS Profile is a trademark of College Board, which did not make or endorse this tool.