<p>I was thinking recently that I really want to get all of my applications in as soon as possible, but is there any advantage to getting applications in sooner for Early Action? For rolling admissions, obviously it makes a difference, but it seems for EA that all applications are reviewed at the same time. </p>
<p>In other words, is it worth it to submit an application in September as opposed to October, when it is closer to the November deadline for many EA schools?</p>
<p>Not that I know of.</p>
<p>At most colleges, your file will not be read until certain items have arrived – namely your transcript, Secondary School Report (SSR), high school profile and teacher recommendations. While you could submit your Common Application and test scores on September 1st, your application might sit in the college’s file room until mid-to-late October waiting for your high school’s guidance staff to send in their part of the application. That’s true for EA and rolling applications. It’s a nice courtesy to send in your applications a few weeks earlier than the deadline, as AO’s are less rushed and have more time to read your file (provided the other required elements have arrived from your HS). I would check with your GC to see when your high school sends their materials to colleges and, if you are ready, send in your applications and test scores at the same time.</p>
<p>It should only make a difference at a rolling admit college.</p>
<p>@gibby Thank you very much! I thought I’d ask since I’d like to take as much time on the essay/writing supplements as possible. I’ll most likely be starting the Common App on Friday, since I’ll have an eight hour drive home (I’ve been on college visits this week). </p>
<p>Would it be a good idea to send my high school transcript as soon as school starts, even though they won’t be used for a while? Or should I wait until closer to when I submit my application?</p>
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<p>Admissions Offices will only accept “Official Transcripts” from your high school guidance counselor. In the old days, when I went to college, guidance counselor’s would seal “Official Transcripts” with wax school crests certifying authenticity. Nowadays, with the Common Application, only your guidance counselor is allowed to upload transcripts. “Official Transcripts” sent by mail must be sealed with your guidance counselor’s signature, otherwise college’s will not accept them as officially verified documents. So, DO NOT send transcripts on your own. Talk with your GC when school starts.</p>
<p>Yes, of course. The “official transcripts” are easy to get. I just request them in the student services office and they’ll get me as many official transcripts as I need. I already sent one out this summer for a rolling admissions school I applied to.</p>
<p>^^ Your school is very trusting, or perhaps you are an international applicant. Most US high school’s like to send “Official Transcripts” themselves. And many college’s prefer that method as one too many student’s have submitted falsified transcripts on their own and college’s have been embarrassed to find they admitted the fakers only to prosecute them at a later time: <a href=“Former Harvard Student Indicted For Falsified Applications, Identity Fraud | News | The Harvard Crimson”>http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/5/17/wheeler-harvard-wheelers-applications/</a></p>
<p>@gibby Here’s basically how my high school does it (I am a domestic student). I go into student services and request the transcript. I fill out a form, sign it (this is so the school keeps track of which schools I have sent my transcript to, to avoid sending multiple ones) and it goes to the registrar. The registrar prints out my transcript, includes some other things, signs it, stamps it official, and seals it in an envelope. They make sure to include a sticker over the seals that says “only official if seal is unbroken.” They give it to me, the envelope has a return address to the school, and all I have to do is put a stamp on it and address the envelope to the sender. </p>
<p>Rkepp, do you go to a big school?</p>
<p>@scholarme It’s a public school. My class size is a little over 300, so I would venture a guess that the total number of students is around 1200 students.</p>
<p>I was thinking I’ll just send my transcript to all of the schools I am thinking of, just so it’s done. It won’t really change again until mid-January anyway. Is that a good idea?</p>
<p>Anyways, back to my initial question. It doesn’t matter when you submit your application for EA application? For example, you won’t get more financial aid for submitting in September as opposed to October or November?</p>
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No, you won’t.</p>
<p>The (non-rolling) Admissions offices will be doing their college fair tours, outreach, etc., prior to the EA deadline; they aren’t reading the applications in September or October. After the November 1 deadline, they are very busy and dedicated to working through those EA applications. </p>
<p>Great, thanks everyone! I’ll wait until October and use some extra time to write my essays.</p>
<p>I heard that they read applications as they arrive so spaces fill up quick; is that true?</p>
<p>The main advantages for EA would be:
<p>There is no difference if you submit it way before the deadline. However, submission too close to deadline may lead to a delay. It happened last year at UMich.</p>
<p>@AmbiD77 I heard that too. But it wouldn’t make sense to do it this way with a “deadline”. Otherwise it would just be rolling admissions.</p>
<p>Only “rolling” admission schools read the applications as they arrive. Any college with an application deadline (or EA/.ED deadline) starts reading the applications only after the deadline. Otherwise, they wouldn’t know how many applications they have, and therefore wouldn’t know what portion they should admit/deny. It wouldn’t work to deny too many and find that you received fewer applications than expected, or to admit too many and have seats overfilled and still turn away even better applicants. </p>
<p>You look at trends and such to predict your yield, you look at how many applications you have and how many seats you need to fill, you know what portion you need to admit and what portion you need to deny.</p>
<p>If there’s an application deadline, it doesn’t matter whether you get your application in 3 minutes or 3 months beforehand. It won’t get read until the deadline date has passed.</p>
<p>FCCDAD, do you know that to true for all schools with EA?</p>
<p>Some schools have a “preliminary” form that can be filled out Aug 1, as a jump-start to the Common App portion. I see zero reason not to get this set up immediately. It can’t hurt, and better to do those before the senior year starts for everyone.</p>