<p>If the deadline for an application is January 1, and two applicants are virtually identical and one submits his application November 1 and the other on January 1, does the applicant who submitted their application earlier have a better chance of getting in or does the date of submission not matter?</p>
<p>No. As long as you submit it on time, they will not care what time you submit it. Although it is important to note November 1 is the EA/ED deadline at most schools, so if you submit it at that time it may be reviewed as such. In that case if you apply EA/ED you may have a slight advantage to those that submit RD</p>
<p>Oh yeah I know about EA/ED I was referring to if both applicants applied RD.</p>
<p>Makes no difference at all.</p>
<p>The only difference would be if that school does rolling admission, which means the earlier applicant would probably get their admission decision earlier.</p>
<p>Might make a difference if the admissions officers are ‘fresh’ or weary…</p>
<p>What about for schools that consider the applicant’s level of interest? I’m not sure where exactly but I vaguely recall someone here on CC saying something about how it makes a slight difference if you turn your application in for certain highly selective schools before Dec. 15th when ED/EA results are released vs. turning it in afterwards. Apparently turning it in after the results are released implies more heavily that you’re only applying to the school because you were rejected by your ED/EA school, from what I can remember them saying. Again, I’m just stating what I remember someone else claiming before. No idea how true it is or not.</p>
<p>This may depend on the college or university. One of D’s schools said that her admission officer was on leave and wouldn’t be back until December so the earliest applicants in that region would be evaluated is December. That sounds to me like order of arrival doesn’t matter at all. He’s just going to see a pile of applications. They could be in order of zip code for all we know.</p>
<p>If the school has rolling admission, that’s more first come, first serve. Earlier applicants may have better chances.</p>
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<p>People might claim that, but it’s just not true. ED is not as big a thing as the people here on CC would have you believe. Most students simply can’t commit to one school, often for financial reasons. I was shocked at how few kids at our rather well off public HS did ED that weren’t recruited athletes - well under 5%, and this is a school that routinely gets kids into top, top schools.</p>
<p>There is no penalty for being poor or less than wealthy or even shopping for the best deal. And of course people wait until after their ED/EA results are in - people are often shooting for the moon with those schools, RD is just for after reality kicks in.</p>
<p>My D has an ED application pending. In the meanwhile, we submitted an RD app to a small LAC because we were concerned that submitting the app on December 16 suggests the school is a back up. With most of her other “top reach” schools, we figure it won’t make any difference whether we file now, on Dec 16 or Dec 31. Maybe it would make no difference to that small LAC either, but we figured in that case it was worth the $60 to submit the app.</p>
<p>No it makes absolutely no difference. Colleges do not meet to start reading applications until all of them are turned in. They can sort peoples files early though, but nobody is being considered, accepted, or rejected until after the deadline. Unless, you are applying early, or the college has rolling admissions.</p>
<p>@corinthian you can’t do that. If you apply ED, you cannot apply to other schools at the same time. That is dishonest, and your school could get in a lot of trouble. Additionally, both of the schools could revoke her acceptance if they find out. </p>
<p>@oxoxhawja3xoxo, you are incorrect. You are free to apply RD while you have an ED application pending. You agree, however, that if you are accepted to your ED school, you will withdraw any pending applications and not initiate any new ones. Know your facts before you call someone dishonest.</p>
<p>I remember seeing on the college’s website that the deadline is January 1st but they prefer if your application is submitted by December 15 and i emailed the undergraduate admissions office and they had no idea what i was talking about and i can’t seem to find that page again but i am dead sure i saw that on their website somewhere. so what does that mean?</p>
<p>All of the colleges my son is applying to have rolling admissions. I have heard that it is better to apply earlier. Someone said they are more selective once they have fewer slots to fill. </p>