Top 3 Myths About the UC Application Deadline

This article was last updated on September 9, 2025.

At College Zoom, we've had to dispel a lot of UC myths over the last 16 years. Here are the top 3.

Myth #1: Does the UC Website Actually Crash on the Deadline?

Across the world, teachers, school counselors, and online forums warn that if you wait until the last minute to submit your UC application, the website may crash and you will miss your opportunity to apply. Is this true?

Like every urban legend, this one is based on a kernel of truth. In 2009, the UC website did momentarily crash, but the UC application promptly (and generously) extended the deadline for all applicants. In fact, reviewing the historical record of tweets about "UC Application crashes" reveals a pattern of people warning each other, in every year between 2009 and 2020, that the website will crash again. Then, they were all shocked when the dreaded repeat crash never came—until 2020.

2020 UC Website Crash

On Nov. 29th 2020, even though the deadline at the time (then Nov. 30th) was still a full day away and applicants were still able to access the UC website again just three hours after the crash started, the UC immediately extended the undergraduate application deadline from Nov. 30th to December 4th. In addition to publishing an official press release, which is no longer live on the UC website, all UC applicants who opened the UC website were greeted with this big warning message:

"Due to the technical difficulties that many were experiencing on Nov. 29, the deadline for the UC application has been extended to 11:59 pm PST, Friday, Dec. 4."

Momentary Time Outs in 2021 and 2022

When the UC website again had momentary connection issues for several hours in 2021 and 2022, the UC again overcompensated by extending the deadline by more than enough time for students who waited until the last minute to submit. Since 2022, there have been no website accessiblity issues. However, in the unlikely occurrence of a crash, your window of opportunity to submit your UC application will not be lost. Not only do the UCs extended the deadline whenever any issue (technical or not) significantly prevents students from submitting their applications on time, but extensions are sometimes given without reason. For instance,  in 2017, high school seniors read this message in the final days leading up to the deadline when they logged into their UC Application:

"Freshman Applicants: If you started your application prior to 11:59 p.m. PST, November 30, you will have until 11:59 p.m. PST on December 1 to complete the submission of your application for fall 2017 admissions."
- UC Application

In this instance, the UC application gave all students an extra day (pushing the traditional Nov. 30th deadline back to Dec 1). To the best of our knowledge, the server never even crashed or momentarily timed out that year.

In another instance of the UC's generosity, students affected by the 2018 wildfires were given an extra 15 days to submit their applications.

The UC is Generous

Whenever there is a disturbance on the UC Application website or natural disaster, UC has always generously extended its deadline in an abundance of caution. It's quick to extend the deadline out of fairness, administrative policy, and avoiding legal challenges from students who couldn’t submit on time due to the UC website's unavailability. Nevertheless, many teachers and counselors, hoping to scare procrastination out of their students as well as seize on the opportunity to teach a well intended life lesson, perpetuate the myth that a UC website crash means no application submission.

The UC is Understanding

Admissions offices can also be surprisingly flexible and accommodating (within reason) when the problem is on your end. For example, in 2018, a transfer applicant had to call the UC Application Center because she was having computer problems during the week of the deadline. The technical problems prevented her from retrieving essays stored within her personal laptop. To her surprise, the UC Application Center actually told her that she could send her updated essays as additional information to them. Initially, she had to use her old essays from when she applied as a freshman in order to meet the transfer deadline, but then she was able to send her new transfer essays in later.

Secret Grace Periods

Lastly, people don't know that the stated deadline isn't actually the hard deadline. Colleges have secret grace periods that allow for the submission of applications hours after the official deadline has passed. Why? Because despite their strong-faced facade, they get it: they're dealing with teenagers and technology can be unreliable. While we at College Zoom highly advise that you don't play with fire by testing the limit of the grace period, as long as the application website successfully accepts your submission, even if it's 6am the following morning, you are fine and your application will be reviewed. It's only when the application literally doesn't allow you to submit that you've lost your window.

How do we know? We once had a student get accepted to an Ivy League university despite submitting her Common Application almost 3 hours after the midnight Regular Decision deadline. Her application showed as posting one day beyond the deadline in her application portal, but it didn't deter her acceptance. We later confirmed the existence of secret grace periods at other colleges with admissions officers met at industry conferences. That's a story for another time but, again, we don't suggest testing the limit.

Key Takeaway

Don't rush your application because you're afraid of a crash. Take your time and ensure your application is perfect before you submit it. Channel the mindset of a basketball player whose team has the lead as the clock winds down. Hog and control possession of the ball to run out the clock so the other team can't score on you in the closing seconds. Purposefully drain the clock. Don't be pressured to submit arbitrarily early like the student who below submitted on Nov. 21st. and then couldn't make any changes.

"Hi, I  just wanted to let you know that I submitted the UC app last night! I forgot to add two of my honors and awards. I called and they can’t add anything or make any changes to the application itself. I’m hoping that doesn’t derail the rest of my application."

That doesn't constitute an extenuating circumstance like the transfer applicant with laptop problems.

Myth #2. Is the Actual UC Deadline on or before Dec. 1st?

The UC Deadline is officially 11:59pm on Dec. 1st, regardless of what day of the week Dec. 1st falls on. However, the aforementioned secret grace period extends it,

We hear from students that their friends, teachers, and school counselors interpret this to mean that they should submit on Nov. 30th. That notion is wrong. You can wake up on December 1st and continue working on your UC application all day. As long as you submit it by midnight before you go to sleep, you're officially on time. Even if you submit after midnight and the UC application accepts your submission, you're still going to be considered but don't play with fire and push the limit.

If you see an article that says, "the UC deadline is this Friday at 11:59pm PDT" check the year it was written. Outdated websites contribute to the confusion.

Myth #3. Does Applying Early to the UCs Give You an Advantage?

Rest assured that applying early to the UCs won’t improve your chance of admittance (at all, regardless of your major). The UCs are very adamant that they don’t review students in a vacuum. Meaning, they wait until the deadline passes because they want to evaluate all students relative to the other applicants and ensure they ultimately admit the strongest students. 

By contrast, a college that starts reading and accepting applicants as they come is practicing “rolling admissions” (applicants are admitted on a rolling basis). But, the UCs are explicit in that they do not practice rolling admissions. If your application is submitted on November 1st, it will sit in queue, for a month while your competition can perfect their applications.

Here’s an excerpt from an email I sent a mom who claimed that a UC admissions rep told her that some majors start reviewing applications as they come in: 

"Hi [Parent's Name Redacted],

I’ve never heard that before so I just called UCLA to confirm and spoke with one of the admissions officers, Catherine. Catherine confirmed that there is no advantage to applying early at any of the UC campuses and UC applicants who submit early don’t get an advantage nor do they get read sooner.

There is also no exception to this policy by major. Catherine explained that because UCLA and all other UC campuses evaluate all applicants from one school against other candidates from the same school, they wait until the deadline has passed so that they can review all of the applicants from a student’s school in context. Otherwise, if they started to review students as their applications roll in, then they wouldn’t have a way of knowing if they were truly admitting the strongest applicants from that school.”

The best strategy is submitting as close to the deadline as you feel comfortable so that you can leverage the full time to develop the best application you can muster.