Common Application Woes

It has been a while since I posted anything, since this fall has been filled with making some sort of sense of the "new and improved" Common Application. Like the Obamacare website fiasco, the problems Common App has experienced, as well as caused to numerous students and universities, have become increasingly frustrating.
Although we seem to be through most of the growing pains--after all, I am only getting weekly updates on the fixes instead of daily ones like earlier this fall!--there are still a few things to remember.
1) Do NOT wait until the deadline to submit your Common App. Although colleges have been understanding of the problems students have been having, they still have to get certain things done in a reasonable time frame, and they may not want to extend a great deal of time for you to get your things together. After all, it certainly isn't their fault you waited till 11 pm the night of the due date to try to enter your application. I would aim for a week or two before the deadline, which, if the system totally fails, as it did for one of my students, still gives time to get the application to the college by the due date. Print out a copy of the pdf that is generated when you hit submit, just in case it doesn't go through to the college.
2) Be sure to contact your admission representative if there are issues to let them know what you are doing. If you don't let them know the problems, they can't help or allow extra time for every part of the application to get there. They are aware of the problems and willing to work with you to get your application done. Once again, though, it is not their problem if you wait till the last minute.
3) Pay close attention to what you have to do to get counselor and teacher recommendation invitations sent to those doing the recommendations. For some weird reason, Common App has made this a 2 step process, where you invite or assign the individuals, and then you must assign or invite (see, even I am confused about this!) them specifically for the college involved. This, of course, enables you to choose which recommendations go to which college, but it does mean that you may think it is all wrapped up when it isn't. Check the help menu on Common App if you have questions. Although the whole process has been the stuff of which nightmares are made, they have worked quickly to post solutions to the most common problems.
4) Don't forget to check for supplements--many colleges have writing supplements or want extra information, and until that is completed, your application is not complete. Checking with the college website or the admissions rep may help you to find out what their requirements are.
5) And lastly, make sure  you have actually submitted the thing. Some students are assuming because they have paid and received acknowledgement that payment has been made that they are done. But you must hit submit, which will generate a pdf of the application for your final approval. You must then sign and submit the whole thing for it go through.
And, thankfully, the application season is almost over, and we can all move on the more exciting part--getting those acceptances and making the final decision of which college you will be attending. Not necessarily less anxiety-inducing, but much more fun!