by Emily Jimenez | Staff Writer

December is the month when most college applications are due, now there are some students who have to face the fact that they’ve missed the deadline.

Surely students in this situation are wishing to some magical power that the deadline will be extended by a month, or three, but, sadly, that most likely will not happen.

“College deadlines are really strict, that’s why we tell students to do their research well in advance so that they’re aware of the deadlines,” Counselor Shar McKelvie said.

However, there is always a rare case where the college will extend their deadline.

“The school can extend their deadline,” said McKelvie. “ Some schools will extend it if there’s a hurricane or something happens, schools will extend their deadline because of an emergency or if they have technical problems.”

A&M extended their deadline by a week because they had technical problems. If deadlines change it will be posted on their school website.

This is a very rare occurrence and students should not expect this to happen often. So, the unfortunate news to anyone who missed their deadline is that they will most likely have to wait and apply for the next semester.

The idea alone of missing a college application deadline is enough to make seniors consider the possible consequences.

“I would have been very upset and seen if there were any other colleges I’d want to go to with another deadline,” senior Alyssa Cantrell said.

There is also the fear of how parents may react when they discover their child has missed out on applying to such a major mile stone.

“My mom would have been very upset,” senior Shelby Mell said, “she’s in the army and I would have to pay for things that could’ve been covered.”

So fears don’t become a reality, be sure when beginning college applications to look at all college deadlines and plan accordingly. Senior year is meant to be fun, but don’t let college creep up out of the blue. Although this may be a late tip, preparation is always key when any major deadline is set.

“You want to get it [college applications] all done well in advance because once the deadlines pass you just have to wait for the next opportunity,” McKelvie said.