<p>So i was reading along a conversation here at CC from a kid trying to decide between tufts, bu, and cmu...or maybe it was uPenn vs. dartmouth vs. amherst...but whatever....when this regular commenter posted:</p>
<p>"Whatever you choose, get started now on those essays. Many many students have already submitted their applications to their early schools!"</p>
<p>Well, ugh. I'm not going to mention this to my D (she already has enough on her) but a few questions:
1. How early do early applyers apply? That is, do most people try to get them in by Sept or so?
2. For those that do, are the applications read as they come in? Or does the admissions group sit down on, say, Oct. 1 and begin reading them through?
3. And is there a strategy (Im sure there is at CC :) at the ideal moment to enter an application? At the very beginning when all apps seem fresh? Or at the very end when its the last application on the counselor's mind?</p>
<p>I doubt that many students really do this. My observation is that most ED and EA applicants submit their application very close to the deadline date. High school college counselors know how to deal with this last moment crunch. In practice they are aware which students will be applying ED/EA weeks before the deadline. In my opinion there is much merit in completing the ED/EA application with deliberate speed, and no real advantage in getting it out weeks before the deadline.</p>
<p>D2 started her essays the summer before her senior year. She submitted her ED application early Oct. One school we did hear may start reading early was Yale, but we didn’t necessary hear early read necessary meant higher chance of admission. Now, ED period is so short (one month) that I wouldn’t be surprised if they start reading as applications came in, and if you submit earlier maybe they’ll spend more time on your application. But this is just pure speculation.</p>
<p>I do not believe many students have already submitted their early applications.</p>
<p>My D had her first essay done about 2 months ago and applied to her top school 3 minutes after the application for 2015 went live. I am sure she is an outlier but not alone in this.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I sent in an early action app last year in early/mid-October (the school didn’t have any supplemental essays, so I was able to get it in sooner). I think mid-October is much more common than now.</p></li>
<li><p>Most offices don’t start reading until the middle of September. The only reason applying much earlier than the deadline would help is in cases of rolling admissions, which is basically admission on a “first come, first serve” basis. Schools will be very clear if they practice rolling admissions. (Rolling may not come into play if you’re applying early action somewhere, though. Honestly not sure on this one.)</p></li>
<li><p>Not that I know of. My personal “strategy” is to send it about a week or two before the deadline, but not because of any advantage I think it will give me. In the days close to a deadline, the Common App servers get super overloaded, and sometimes applicants aren’t able to log on - applying a week or more in advance will help you avoid that issue. Also, I think of it that I want to show the admissions office the most complete, true version of myself - sending them a version of myself that’s several months old isn’t that. A lot can change in just a couple of months. Again, this paragraph is just my personal strategy.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I do not think it is a good idea to submit applications before school starts. Rushing to submit applications is generally a bad idea because you are more prone to mistakes when working without the supervision of a counselor. Your daughter should definitely have a solid draft of her common app essay. But she doesn’t have to rush to do supplements yet or submit an application yet. She has several months and can work a little at a time.</p>
<p>The critical piece is to get your references and counselor report going early. My son and some other kids missed the ED deadline because they waited too long to prepare information for their references. There was a 1 month or so required lead-time due to so many students requesting references/reports.</p>
<p>Relax, there is no need to get the EA/ED applications in before the deadline. My kids’ high school didn’t even have transcripts prepared to send to colleges until October. But I do agree that it is good to be sure the recommendations are lined up and everything is in order. And it is a huge plus if she starts to draft her essay sooner rather than later. My D got her ED application submitted towards the end of October and I think that was reasonably early.</p>
<p>Having everything on time is important. Other than that, there is NO advantage for kids who submit them as soon as they can vs students who submit them as late as they can (assuming all parts are in order). That said, DO start on those essays!</p>
<p>Submit the application only when you are ready. Rushing any application may do more harm then help. Nevertheless, it is always better to submit the application at least 1 or 2 weeks before the deadline to avoid traffic and allow time to track the application by the deadline.</p>
<p>I would encourage your kid to have other non-ED/EA applications done before early results come out. Writing those essays through tears may not get you the best result.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about this. The only schools where it’s important to apply earlier are rolling schools. It’s fine to apply at/on the deadline for EA, ED, and RD.</p>
<p>I was actually grateful that my D didn’t send in her applications the second they opened. She evolved quite a bit through the application season. She found herself influenced by other applications. Certain questions for one college would inspire her to revisit what she wrote to another. Interviews she had late summer and early Fall not only altered some ideas of where she wanted to apply but how she wanted to present herself. She ended up trashing the essay she’d written over summer and for which her teacher’s and counselor had loved. She started over in September and everyone agreed it was a much stronger paper. She did send in a couple EA applications in September (easy ones) but for the most part, she prepared all her applications in tandem and them submitted them all late November (deadlines from Nov 31st to January 15th.) Those later applications where much better than what she would have turned in September. Oh wait, she did sent in one first week of January… it was a late add school that she hadn’t considered but inline with what she wanted.</p>
<p>From what I’ve read and watched on admissions videos from various schools, as long as it’s on time, they don’t pay attention to the date stamp on the application and they don’t necessarily stay in any particular order. Perhaps there are schools that do but in the end, a stronger application is better than a fast one.</p>
<p>For some scholarship programs (for example, Georgia Tech’s President’s Scholarship Program), applications need to be in by mid-October. Check all the deadlines for the colleges your child is considering. It would be painful to lose a chance at a merit scholarship because you chose to go to the beach rather than work on the application. Vanderbilt, for example, has a number of merit scholarships with deadlines in the first two weeks of December, although the RD deadline is January 1st.</p>
<p>It is a good idea to get started on the essays for the Common App before the start of Senior year, if you’re likely to be busy with academics and extracurriculars. </p>
<p>It is very true that essays may take many revisions to polish it. The essay she submitted on CommonApp was changed many times between submission over several months and used all 3 allowed revisions for submissions. Finally, it turned into be a very good essay 8 months after the first draft and won her a scholarship.</p>
<p>At least one school, UT Austin, places order of priority for housing by the date of the application for housing. The fall application opened on August 1, 2014 for Fall 2015 admission. After admission a housing application can be submitted in order to secure a place in line for housing. If you wait too long to apply for admission you may not get your housing preference.</p>