<p>I'm having a huge debate with my mom. I'm not making an excuse for why I'm slacking on applications, but she is really worried because I've only sent out one so far.</p>
<p>Does it matter when I send my application, as long as I meet the deadline? My mom is telling me they will look over the applications as they get them and I will miss out on scholarship money if I apply later than others. My argument is that a college will not award scholarship based on when someone applied. Rather, the college will accept students than look at the accepted students and give scholarship money after they do this. Who is right?</p>
<p>I’ve heard that it doesn’t matter when you send it as long as you meet the deadline; they generally download all the apps on the day that they are due. I agree with you on the scholarship thing. It wouldn’t make sense to give a scholarship to an unimpressive applicant that rushed through the application just to send it in weeks in advance.</p>
<p>For non-rolling admissions, it doesn’t matter. However, we’ve been told that it is very wise to submit electronically a few days before the deadline because sometimes all the last minute submissions can clog up the system. And, of course, your internet connection might go down as well. So, aim for a few days before the deadline for non-rolling admissions.
For rolling admissions, the sooner the better.
For state schools - if there is a ‘priority’ deadline , submit a few days before.</p>
<p>For a couple of schools where I interviewed it helped to get the app in before the interviews. The interviewers already knew a lot about me. I think that will help them remember me when it comes time to make decisions.</p>
<p>I would still go with your mom and turn them in asap. You don’t want to wait till last minute to turn it in and find that the server is down or something. I had the opposite argument with my parents: they want me to turn mine in later so I have a better essay, but I don’t want to miss out on scholarships and a higher acceptance rate (only for rolling admissions)</p>
<p>Every college is different. You must check with each college.</p>
<ul>
<li>Some colleges have rolling admission and they may not even say so. In that case, the earlier the better. </li>
<li>Some colleges’ scholarship deadline/financial aid deadline is not the same as the app deadline.</li>
<li>Some colleges’ web sites are known to have problems a few days prior to dealine because too many students are trying to submit their app. Always target submitting a week before deadline.</li>
</ul>