If I apply to a school as a ‘regular decision’ applicant in, say December, will I know if I’m accepted earlier than someone who applies closer to the deadline? Or do the schools wait and send all the letters out at around the same time?
<p>All the letters are sent at the same time. The only exceptions are the "early writes" -- at some schools, if they really really want you, they send you an "unofficial" letter a couple of weeks early.</p>
<p>They don't review the applications until after the deadline to wait for all the applications to arrive and get processed.</p>
<p>Sometimes they actually do start early. My dad and I asked a few admissions people about this and it varied by school. At one school I know they said they'd read it even if they didn't have all the material yet (????). I doubt it makes any difference in admissions though.</p>