How to keep track of college application deadlines

AApplication calendars differ from college to college far more than families expect, and those differences cause some of the most avoidable mistakes in the admissions process. Most families learn the general shape: an early round in November, a regular round in January, decisions in December and spring. That shape is a useful average and a poor guide to any particular school.

The surprises usually arrive in October, when a student realizes a deadline has already passed or that two plans cannot be combined. By then the fix is rarely simple, and the cost usually falls on the writing that the autumn was supposed to protect. The divergences follow a few patterns worth knowing in advance.