The University of California extended its application deadline from November 30th to December 4th, following technical difficulties on Sunday, November 29th. Students attempting to submit their completed applications were met with an error message, sending many into a panic. The UC system has historically had a no-extension policy, so applicants worried they had missed their chance.  

“I had been working on my application for a little while and had plans to submit it on the 29th, but right as I finished the final details and clicked submit, the system crashed for a couple of hours. It was frustrating because I had spent so long on it. Not being able to submit it when I wanted to was pretty annoying,” Joey Silva (‘21) said. 

A message from the University’s Twitter account released around 7 p.m. Pacific time on the 29th said: “The UC Application is currently experiencing an outage. We are investigating how to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.”

Under an hour later, the UCs confirmed that applications were now due 11:59 p.m. PST, Friday, December 4th, much to the relief of students affected by the crash. Adriana Flores, Executive Assistant to the Office of College Guidance, sent an email message to Webb seniors on Monday, confirming the extension and offering assistance to concerned students. Ms. Flores noted on December 7th that three UC campuses, Riverside, Merced, and Santa Cruz, had extended their deadlines to December 15th.  

Webb seniors now have the opportunity to revise and resubmit their UC applications, in the hopes that this stressful chapter of an already difficult college process is coming to a close.