<p>I am not talking about EA, SECA, or ED; I am talking about applying RD but early in the admissions cycle like Sept or October. Logically it seems to me that adcoms will be more attentive and likely to admit students during the beginning of the admissions cycle. Think about it this way a marathon runner runs his/her fastest at the beginning of the marathon.</p>
<p>Subconsciously perhaps it gives some slight nudge. Will it make a difference in a decision, I doubt it.</p>
<p>That said, I encourage getting an early start and not going to the deadline as that tends to rush things and often results in poor quality, errors or omissions.</p>
<p>It did not seem to,help my son this year. Unless it got him on the wait list instead of rejected. Some schools, with rolling admission, give out scholarship money to the early birds. That is an advantage, IMO.</p>
<p>I don’t think it really matters. I’ve talke to plenty of students who have sent in their application at the very last minute and got accepted including to some top schools. For some schools however you need to have your application in early, usually by December 1 in order to be considered for scholarships and or honors programs offered at the school</p>
<p>Check each college. With rolling admissions colleges, you may get a response early – if it is favorable, you have a safety (and can drop applying to any school you like less than that college). Other colleges have application deadlines for scholarships that are earlier than the deadlines just for admission, while others have limited numbers of scholarships that are given on a first come first served basis to qualified-by-stats applicants.</p>
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<p>The OP is not asking about rolling admission, they’re talking about applying RD but submitting in the fall.</p>
<p>Why not just do early action if you’re ready to submit your application in the fall? Many schools my D applied to offered most, if not all, of their merit scholarships to early action applicants. If you’re accepted you still have till May 1 to make your decision. The only difference is that you might have to put a deposit down to hold housing. That is usually refunded if you decide not to attend ( at least it was at the schools my D applied to). The upside is that you will have some decisions early and that really takes the pressure off. Once my D got her first acceptance she felt so much better and much less stressed. She still waited till mid-April to make her final decision since she applied to two schools that only had regular admission.</p>
<p>If the school only offers RD I don’t think it matters when you submit. The University of Delaware sent a letter acknowledging my D’s submittal saying that they wait until they get all applications to decide, in order to get the class that they want.</p>
<p>A good portion of the schools I am applying to are EA, but some like the Ivy’s are only have binding options.</p>
<p>EA is a nice option because you can have a couple of acceptances in your pocket by Christmas break. To me, ED is for the independently wealthy legacy who has known for years where he/she wants to attend and a handful of others.</p>
<p>All the schools you mention will be focused on their ED and EA applicants. Yours won’t even be read until that’s over. Along with the stream of other RD applications. Plus, when yours is read is largely out of your control. When all the rec letters, school reports and test scores are filed, then your app is complete.</p>
<p>Take the time to submit your best application. Chasing after the myth of some supposed “early bird” advantage can only lead you to trouble. Think about it. Schools like H and Y have near 30000 applications. Why should they invest a single iota of advantage to you over someone else just b/c yours is postmarked in October over the December?</p>
<p>I kind of agree with post #10, 2 cycle ago, one kid was accepted to Yale eventhough things were somehow sent late(transcripts & test scores, I believe), not until Feb I think.</p>