Does it make a difference whether RD applicants submit before December 15th or after that date, like December 20?
Will the admissions officer get to the file sooner?
No
Maybe. Will they do anything substantial with it? No.
It will have zero impact on the admissions decision. The request is made by Harvard every year, and serves only to benefit Harvard, allowing the AO (really the students workers) additional time to start assembling the packets. The only benefit for the student is getting it off his/her plate. But if your essay is not ready to go, don’t feel pressured to turn your application in prior to 1/1.
Remember that AO’s have just spent the last 6 weeks straight combing through SCEA applications. Most, if not all, plan on taking some time off for the holidays before the fun starts again.
If you can, submit my December 15. While they explicitly tell you that there’s no penalty for submitting later than that but before the overall deadline, the converse is not true. That is, there is a “reward” for submitting early. Otherwise, they wouldn’t ask. The reason for the reward: they can start reviewing applications earlier and avoid getting all of them at the same time. Harvard wants applicants to pay attention to detail. Knowing that they “would like” the application by 12/15 even though not due until 1/1 is one such detail. It is a certainty that your internal application score will increase (marginally) by submitting by 12/15.
@84stag @skieurope I remember researching this very question for SCEA, I thought that submitting on Nov 1 was no different than submitting Oct 15? It was just for Hvard’s convenience and has no impact on your app.
@habitualnerd That’s basically what I stated above.
One possible benefit, albeit small: I believe that the names of candidates are forwarded to regional interview chairs when their files are complete. Those who submit by December 15th may have a better chance of being assigned to an interviewer and may be assigned with more care/time/etc. than those whose applications are submitted en masse on January 1st. This is highly dependent how things happen within a particular region, however.