<p>My S is basically ready to go with his applications. Polishing up the essay, but scores are in and supplementals are ready too. We made a concerted effort to finish as much as possible this summer, before senior year starts up.</p>
<p>Excepting schools with rolling admissions, is there any advantage to being the "early bird", submitting applications in early September, even if deadlines for EA might be November 1? I have read that the AO's claim not to begin reading the files until then, but I find it hard to believe that some of them don't get a jump start on the admissions files before the start of the official admissions period.</p>
<p>At a minimum, does it reinforce "showing interest" if you get your applications in right away?</p>
<p>Re-read the application and scholarship information at each website. Some do reward earlier applicants by making certain scholarships available only to those who apply by a certain date.</p>
<p>If the school is on CommonApp and it is not rolling, they may not even start downloading the applications until several weeks before the EA deadline.</p>
<p>My daughter submitted all of her applications by November. She was really happy to have them done when all of her friends were stressing in December! There seems little reason to wait until the last minute, assuming the student is really happy with their essays. The only possible downside I can see is if the student matures a bit more in the upcoming months, becomes more reflective about colleges, has another campus visit that gives him more insight to express, or something like that. I will say that my D had several supplemental campus visits, class visits, and interviews in Sept/Oct that probably added to her ability to write good essays. Does your son have anything like that planned? If so he might want to wait to finalize his apps until after those.</p>
<p>I saw no reason for my daughter to refrain from sending hers in November. Even if the Adcom doesn’t read the application early, at the very least they will see the received date, I’d think, and maybe think, “this student is really on the ball and/or really excited to come here.” Just my guess/instinct, though.</p>
<p>My suggestion is to submit it at least a couple weeks before deadline to avoid traffic and potential problems. I know UMich could not finish processing all EA applications and have to delay the EA notice for some students submitted near the deadline last year. Also, order the score reports and transcript at least a couple weeks before the deadline so that you have time to track the delivery and take any action before it is too late if necessary.</p>
<p>Early has benefits for the student – to clear stuff out of the way. But also know that there are things not in your control such as the submission of the transcript, school report and LORs. If the app arrives on Oct 1st but the LOR or transcript doesn’t get sent until Dec 20th, your app won’t be read in all likelihood untill all components are rec’d.</p>
<p>Good point on the LOR’s and School report and transcript. I will double check, but all his LOR’s are already in, and I believe the school materials should be ready soon.</p>
<p>We still have 4 more schools to visit in October, but of those he does want to apply to, I see no reason not to get those in early, and it may help.</p>