Your Android phone is already a decent application command center, built from tools that will still exist in December. You do not need some niche app with twelve reviews.
- Google Keep for the checklist: labels per school, reminders on notes, low friction, you will actually open it. - Microsoft To Do if you want cleaner due dates and a "my day" view. Todoist sits in between, with projects per university and recurring tasks for weekly portal checks. - Google Drive folders per school for documents, named consistently: "SOP_Draft3_Stanford.pdf" tells future-you everything. "final_final2.pdf" tells you nothing. - Google Calendar for deadlines: every date gets two alerts, one a week out, one the day before. Share the calendar with someone who holds you accountable. - The weekly review: Sunday night, ten minutes. Open the checklist, open each portal, confirm every item shows received.
For the one purpose-built layer, ApplyCheck handles deadlines plus document status plus missing-item flags in one place. $4.99 one-time unlock.