[Kate*]

Hey Dez, when you're dealing with official copies of documents (transcripts and letters of recommendation) you don't actually send them. You request your transcripts from your school and tell them which college(s) to send them to.

For the letters of recommendation you usually give the address (which should be relatively easy to find) to the people who are writing letters for you and they will send them directly to the school once they're written. You are entitled to a copy of the letter, but some people won't write letters for you unless you waive that right. There should be forms for these, if required, available on the college's website. When I did mine, the people asked for envelopes with the address and postage. If they are giving you the letters to mail then it just makes sense that you would mail them. A lot of colleges insist that the letters be submitted by the person who wrote them (so they know that you didn't alter or fake them)

You can fill out the online application at any time, the sooner the better. It's usually easier to start with that and then make a list of all the extra documents you need so you can keep track of what's going where, getting submitted when and by who. It doesn't matter though, your name will be on everything and once it leaves your hands they have a way to organize everything and they'll let you know when they get stuff.

They ask about living arrangements so they can get an estimate of how many residents to expect. If you change your mind once you're accepted you should just be able to apply for housing as long as you keep track of when the deadline is. It might depend on the school though.