New urgency: Get those CSU applications in

All 23 California State University campuses may have to turn away applicants for next fall after being slammed by the state's budget crisis, news reports tell us.

"Preferential admission would be given to entering freshmen within each campus' local community or "service area" as well as transfer students from nearby community colleges who have successfully completed their lower-division requirements," yesterday's Chronicle reported.

Application deadline for oversubscribed ("impacted"); campuses is Nov. 30; for the others, it's March 1. There isn't a first-come-first-served policy, but with some qualified applicants possibly subject to being waitlisted, it still seems like there might be some benefit to not getting an application in at the last minute.

The online CSU application does not require an essay or teacher recommendations, and is entirely fill-in-the-blank and check-box — it's easy. The only legwork beforehand is getting a copy of the transcript, unless you have scrupulously saved all the report cards or have a really good memory.