<p>Is it true that low gpa students get in easier if they apply way before the deadline? I hear that the reason behind this claim is that the admissions officers are more lenient at the beginning of the application season, and progressively get more strict as spots dwindle. Is there any truth to this claim? I already turned in my January 1st applications last weekend, but I wanted to know for future reference (Aka January 15th applications)</p>
<p>No, and submitting an application a week before the deadline is not early. Many people have them in by September.</p>
<p>That’s an unfounded rumor. For private schools, each applicant’s materials trickle in. You might submit your stuff on November 1 and your final reports get filed on March 20th. Guess what? Your app gets read after March 20th. Another person sends her stuff in on Jan 1st but all her scores/rec letters/school reports follow immediately afterward. Her file is read on Jan 7th. </p>
<p>Your theory has some weight with schools that practice rolling admissions – again, only possibly.</p>
<p>@T26E4 I apologize for my ignorance, but aren’t all scores, applications, etc due by January 1st? Why would a report get filed that late?</p>
<p>And I also thought that this was questionable, which was why I asked. Its something that the guidance counselors at our school tell us, but I had a hunch that they only announced this in order to convince us not to send in transcript request at the last moment. I was just having some regrets after sending in my application, and thought that I might have had an advantage if I sent them in a month in advance. But whats done is done I guess, and it seems as thought the rumor is false anyway. Thank You :)</p>
<p>If a school has rolling admission, then conventional wisdom has it that it is better to apply earlier, but, in that case, earlier usually means having a completed application in early Senior year, like September.</p>
<p>
Who knows? Forgetfulness? Whatever. But the schools themselves spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and manhours to elicit great applications. There’s not some delete ■■■■■ with his thumb on a button to auto reject every incomplete file that comes in.</p>
<p>Every one of those colleges is ecstatic you’re applying and are hoping to be able to admit you.</p>
<p>If something is truly missing from your file, do you think they just shred it? They contact you or the school. That’s how it works.</p>
<p>I submitted mine 2 months before the early decision deadline. I felt it helped!!!</p>