I’m not necessarily talking about early action or early decision. But, if the deadline for regular admission is December 1st and the application opens in August and submit your application in August or September, will your chances of getting admitted increase ? Will you get the acceptance letter sooner ??
Yes, if it’s a rolling admissions school.
But not for a RD school.
For rolling admissions schools only.
Consolidating all of the answers here
Regular Decision schools don’t care when you submit your application so long as it’s before the deadline. Submitting early will not help your app.
Rolling admission schools practice admission on almost a “first come first serve” basis. Assuming you’re qualified for admission, the earlier you submit your application the more open spots you could potentially fill so your likelihood of admission increases. If I’m not mistaken you also will get your decision letter earlier.
No, unless rolling admissions.
However, Early Decision and Early Action WILL increase the chance of admission.
Not necessarily for EA:
It will vary by school.
So you’ll get the letter of acceptance at the same time as everyone else ??
For regular decision
Yes, but some schools will let you know in January. For example USC mailed admission letters to scholarship recipients in January. This was the first year that UCB admitted Regents candidates in January as well.
Only if the school has rolling admission. There are lots of legitimate reasons why brilliant students might wait to apply to a college. Maybe they have something going on in their lives that prevents them from applying immediately. Schools do not fault applicants for applying later in an application period. Unleass, as I stated above, that school has rolling admission.
Some schools, like Tulane, will release decisions before their deadline, and sometimes even before the deadline to submit your app. But these schools make no promise to do so if you submit the app earlier.