<p>Stony brook university is my backup incase I don't get accepted to any of the 5 univ I applied to, but I haven't applied to SBU since they are a rolling admissions school. My question is, does the time it takes to respond to a rolling admission application differ for different schools, or is there a certain standard which all rolling admiss schools must meet regarding dates to respond with a decision?</p>
<p>Different schools have different standards for how soon they will get back to you, and there may be times of the year in which the paperwork is processed more quickly than others. Financial aid (other than federally determined loans) tends to get handed out on a first-come-first-served basis so the sooner you apply, the better your aid package is likely to be - which is why we parents tell you to apply to your rolling-admissions safety school first!</p>