About deadlines and "innovative online tools"

Everyone who is thinking of studying in the United Kingdom next fall should have noticed, that one of 3 deadlines for applying has passed yesterday. Exactly until 23:59 (UK time) prospective students were able to submit there application, if they want to make sure that their chosen Universities will receive it on time. For some courses, such as medicine, applicants had to submit their application even earlier, namely in October.
The lucky one's are those, who are thinking of applying for a major related to arts and design, because this deadline is still about to come, in March 2012. The system which handles all the applications for Universities in the UK, is UCAS.

As I myself submitted an application there (one Friday the 13th :) ), I have spent some time dealing with this "innovative online tools which make it easier for students and higher education institutions (HEIs) to manage applications and offers." (quote UCAS).
Maybe it was the fault of this "innovative online tools" that their server broke down several times while I was completing my application. :)
Though, all in all this online admission system seems to work quite properly. Without doubt it takes some time, until you understand how to use it, where to enter which information, and how to get a letter of reference into the provided section. But, if you know what to study one year before the course will start, decided that you want to apply in the UK also in September, and inform yourself about deadlines and the procedure for like a month, ask a referee to write a letter of recommendation for you as soon as you figured out that you need one, and write a perfect personal statement in fall, then you can even manage to meet the October's deadline and of course the January one without much trouble. :)  Well, the problem is, usually prospective students don't know that early, what and where they want to study and the great majority certainly doesn't start dealing with this application mess before they really have to - because deadline is coming soon. Then a good time management is of crucial importance, or a lot of coffee and coca cola in order to be able to make some late night working sessions.

Although I somehow cant see this "UCAS" sign anymore and don't want to hear anything about "deadlines" and "entry requirements" anymore after yesterday, I decided to at least inform myself and everyone who will read this article, about how it will go on for everyone, who submitted an application.
Therefor I will write about the next steps after you submitted the application in my next article ... .

r.s.