<p>If a school's filing date is from Sept 1st- January 1st, do they give any sort of priority or "plus" on a person who filed really early as to some one who filed on/right before the deadline?</p>
<p>Depends on college. Examples: (a) many, like the ivies, for regular admission begin their review and make their decisions after all applications are in and there is no advantage to applying early (unless of course you are applying early decision or early action in which case applying early is necessary); (b) many colleges have rolling admissions meaning they send out decisions as applications are received, in which case applying early is an advantage; (c) some, like UIUC, have "priority" dates, UIUC's is Nov 15, and if you get everything in before that date you will be considered for admission and have a decision made and sent before they even review the applications made after that date and thus you have some advantage by applying early. Another thing to consider for many colleges that offer merit aid is that they may have specified early dates , e.g., Dec 1, by which you must apply if you want to be considered for merit aid.</p>
<p>So basically if Jan 1 is the deadline, a person submitting his app on Oct 1 won't have an advantage/disadvantage compared to one doing so on Dec 31?</p>
<p>^ Yes, you are right. There is no advantage there.</p>
<p>The only advantage is you get done earlier. Lets you focus on your senior year.</p>
<p>well, what's senioritis for then?</p>
<p>What seniors sometimes find is that the first applicaton essays they complete are often not their best effort, because they are not as polished, and it sometimes it takes a lot of rewrites for a student to "find their voice" . If you are going to submit any applications early, make sure you are really happy with your essays, and couldn't improve on them in any way, because these days essays can make or break an application. My son found this out the hard way, when he was in a rush to write his essays in order to submit an early application before the deadline. Just a few weeks later he cringed when he re-read his early essay. He was not accepted at that college, but was accepted every other college he applied to, we think in large part because his later essays were so much better than his first attempt.</p>
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unless of course you are applying early decision or early action in which case applying early is necessary
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<p>So are you saying when you are doing EA there IS an advantage to sending your application in September then in November 1st when they are due?</p>
<p>No, your application and all supporting materials just have to be in by the EA deadline.</p>