Northwestern’s Office of Undergraduate Admission has extended its deadline for early decision applicants in light of Superstorm Sandy.

Christopher Watson, dean of undergraduate admissions, said NU decided Monday morning to move the due date for early decision applications to Nov. 7 because of the massive storm, which swept the East Coast overnight. Early decision applications for NU are normally due Nov. 1.

Watson said the deadline extension essentially applies to all early decision applicants and the office is not going to be “too militant” about who legitimately qualifies for an extension. Power outages and school closings can affect a student’s ability to submit their application on time, he said.

Sandy, which made landfall Monday night as a Category 1 hurricane near Atlantic City, N.J., has claimed 29 lives across the country and is responsible for 7.5 million customers without power in 15 states, according to CNN.

The extended deadline will not affect the release of early decision letters, which are always sent to students by mid-December, Watson said.

“We build in the unforeseen into the timeline because you just never know what could happen,” he said.

Watson said NU has extended its early decision deadline in the past due to snowstorms or other hurricanes in certain parts of the country.

“Basically we don’t want people to stress out,” Watson said. “It’s a stressful enough process and we don’t want to add to it.”

Watson said as the storm unfolds, the office will consider extending the deadline even later for prospective students in some of the more severely affected areas.

— Lauren Caruba