Electronic or Paper College Applications

Class Location: The Internet.

Description: This course is for students who are unsure of whether to submit their application on-line or via the mail.

Objective: Get the truth on which method is better for your chances of acceptance.

Colleges give you the choice of submitting your application electronically or on paper. The use of electronic applications has grown steadily over the past few years. They have become increasingly easier to use with drastically improved security features. Business schools have led the way with this trend, and many won't accept paper applications anymore. Colleges are a little behind in the use of electronic applications but are gradually catching up. In 2003, 35 percent of all college applications were submitted over the internet, and 47 percent of applicants submitted at least one application electronically.

Admissions officers consider all applications equally, regardless of how you submit them. But this doesn't mean all applications are created equal. You should try to submit your college applications over the internet if you can. Electronic applications give you several benefits over traditional paper applications.

• You'll save time. Many services let you fill out the same information just once for all your applications. So you won't have to reenter your SAT scores, grades, family background, etc., on each application.

• You won't have to worry about whether your application made it to the school before the deadline or got lost in the mail. When submitting electronically, you’ll receive a confirmation that your application was sent. Print this out and keep it for your records.

• You'll save some money. Many schools offer a discounted application fee for submitting electronically. Plus, you’ll avoid all those FedEx and UPS charges.

•  You'll save time. You can request applications more quickly, and you don't have to allow extra time for shipping before a deadline. Applying electronically makes it much easier if you decide you want to get in one more application at the last minute.

• You don't have to worry about formatting your application. Instead of trying to figure out how to type all your information into small boxes, you can just fill out the information on your computer as prompted. The admissions committee can then print out the application in a clean, easy-to-read format.

• You'll show the admissions officers that you're computer literate. You’ll need to be able to use computer and internet technology in college, so it can't hurt to show that you know how.

All these benefits make it seem like a no-brainer when deciding between applying electronically or on paper. However, when sending your application via the internet, make sure you keep a back-up of everything you do. For starters, when filling out the application, save frequently. You don't want to spend an hour filling out an application, then have your internet connection quit or your computer crash and have to start from the beginning again. Also make sure to save a copy of your applications on your hard drive. It never fails that a school has its server crash and loses some of its online applications. At the very least, print out your application and keep a copy so that you have the information handy in case you need to fill out the application electronically again.