Are their benefits to putting a deposit in earlier rather than later?
No, but sometimes it’s just nice being done.
If you worry that you may forget in the midst of AP exam preparation, you can pay early. Also, if you pay by April 1, you will receive the orientation invitation earlier so you can register early.
Registering and getting an early orientation date will give you the best choice of classes. That way you can avoid the dreaded 8am classes and long breaks in your class schedule.
They actually reserve/block off some seats or classes for later registration to alleviate the problem. Many students, particularly international, could not afford another trip for orientation in summer and come to the Fall orientation. Nevertheless, it is for sure more options for scheduling if you go to one of the earliest session than the late ones. The disadvantage of early registration is that you need to guess your senior AP exam result for placement. My D went to the first or second orientation session 4 years ago and fortunately got her AP Physics and Calc credits as she thought at the time of registration.
Billcho. My son did the first week on August last year and they only held classes space for internationals. It was Challenging for him to get classes needed. But after some signing up for multiple classes finally got what he needed. That is what they told us at least. If doing it again I would sign up as earlier as possible to get classes and yes, as you mentioned, to better times also.
@Knowsstuff Even my D was in one of the earliest orientation session, the scheduling was still not straight forward and spent half a day to put everything together. Anyway, early August is the week for the last summer orientation session, so it is not surprising at all to find it challenging to register classes. The Fall orientation for domestic students is the week after international. So the slots are not just holding for internationals.