As anthrax scares plague the mail services, high school seniors are facing difficulties ensuring their college applications arrive on time.
As such, the University's admissions office has joined other schools across the nation in delaying its early decision application deadline. Applications postmarked as late as Nov. 8 still will be accepted, as opposed to the usual Nov. 1 deadline.
Admissions officials made the decision because anthrax scares and new safety measures slowed mail traffic, particularly on the East Coast.
"Applicants deserve the necessary amount of time to prepare, and our application is not one that you do lightly," Dean of Admissions John A. Blackburn said.
Blackburn said he anticipates receiving more early decision applications this year than in the past.
"The high school population is growing. And because of a declining economy, public colleges are becoming a more popular option than private schools," he said.
Blackburn also predicts more students will apply electronically.
"We're encouraging people to do it, but I don't expect more than half to apply by computer," Blackburn added.
Approximately 25 percent of all first year applicants to the University applied electronically last year.
Stanford University, Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania, among other institutions, also decided to be more flexible about the early decision applicant deadline.
Princeton, although not accepting online applications, urged students to fax their applications rather than rely on regular mail service for delivery.
Princeton mail service remains particularly slow because a single anthrax spore was found on a mail bin in the post office serving the university.
Admission deans at the College of William and Mary and Virginia Tech, however, did not extend their deadlines. Both said that mail has been slow to arrive at their offices, and they expect more students to apply online.
Virginia Tech Director of Admissions Karen Torgersen said that officials predicted that 80 to 85 percent of applications for Tech would arrive online this year, which follows trends in the form of applications in recent years.
As of now, the University deadline for regular decision remains Jan. 2.
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