Hello,
I’m a junior who will be applying to various universities for the Fall term. I would like to apply early, but I am seeing so many different deadlines and I have no idea when applications usually open.
I’ll be taking my SAT in August (results come back September), so I’ll have to wait until September to submit my applications. Will I still have a head start/be considered early action if I apply to universities in September? Is September considered an early/good time to apply for Fall?
I’m very worried about when the “perfect” time to apply is because I don’t want to apply too late, be considered as a late applicant, and don’t want my chances of acceptance to be lower.
Any help would be appreciated.
You’ll have to check specific schools to get specific due dates. But most early action/decision deadlines are November 1st. I’ve seen a couple of mid-October dates and I certainly haven’t exhaustively searched all schools - but I’d be surprised if October 1 isn’t plenty early for anyone.
The “perfect time” is before the due date - actually probably 15 days before to be safe. September is fine, but so is early October.
And you can complete and file applications before you even receive your SAT scores it you’d like. But way earlier than before the deadline won’t give you any advantage, IMHO.
The only exception to this general advice would be for schools with rolling admission, but in those cases, “earlier” would still mean “don’t wait until December” - Sept/Oct is still plenty early for any I’ve seen.
@RichInPutt Oh okay! As long as September is still an early and good time to apply 
thank you
Applying in September is fine. You are not going to be submitting late for any college that I can think of. Don’t worry about this.
FWIW, our HS did not even have the final transcripts ready to send to colleges until early October so Sept. is very early.