Why some dates say "projected"

Not every date in Accepted is known equally well. Some were read on the university's own page for the cycle you are applying in. Others were worked out from the pattern a university follows every year, or were last checked before this cycle's dates came out. Accepted says which, in a short note next to the date.

Where dates come from

Your application deadlines come from the programme's entry in Accepted's university catalogue. The calendar also shows other dated steps you have to meet, such as a platform's confirmation step or a university's own extra deadline. Accepted keeps those per application cycle, for each platform and university. Where it can, the catalogue records with each date how Accepted knows it: where it was read, when, and for which cycle.

Your application shows the programme's application deadline moved into your own application year and for the admission round you chose. It reads the catalogue each time you open it, so when a date is corrected in the catalogue, your application shows the new date and its new note. You don't need to add the application again.

On your dashboard and in your applications list, the note sits next to the deadline countdown. An application's tracker shows the deadline date with the note beside it, and so do the programme cards in the catalogue. Calendar entries carry the same notes, and the calendar marks a projected date as well.

What each marker means

An application deadline with no note is verified. It was read on the institution's own page after the information for this entry cycle was published. Other dates on a programme card, such as an admissions test deadline, carry no note at all, so there no note doesn't mean verified.

Every deadline that isn't verified carries one of these notes:

projected — derived from a published pattern, not read for this cycle
the university has not published these dates yet
last checked before this cycle opened
placeholder — not yet verified
unconfirmed — we have no source for this date

In plain words:

A projected date was worked out from a pattern the university or the application platform publishes, not read for this cycle. It follows the published pattern, but nobody has seen it confirmed for this cycle. A verified date from an earlier cycle that Accepted has moved forward also shows as projected.
When the university hasn't published yet, someone checked and found no dates for this cycle. The date you see can be the previous cycle's.
A date checked before this cycle opened was read on a real page, but before this cycle's information existed. It may describe last year.
A placeholder, or a date with no source, is the weakest kind. A placeholder was never verified against anything, and for the other Accepted has no record of where the date came from. On the cards, these two carry a warning sign; the other notes are grey.

When the date on screen is last year's date moved forward into your cycle, the note adds last year’s date, rolled forward.

A note says what Accepted knows about its own information. It doesn't say the date is wrong. A projected date can be exactly right, and a verified date can still turn out wrong.

What to do with a projected date

Plan around it, but don't leave things to the last day on the strength of it. It follows a published pattern and is unconfirmed for this cycle.

Check the university's own page before you rely on it. In the catalogue, a programme's Details links to its application page with Apply on the university portal when Accepted holds that link. A university's page in the catalogue links to its website with Visit website. Your counsellor can help you check too.

Once the date is verified in the catalogue, the note disappears from your application by itself.