<p>So I've read ever so often that if I'm applying for RD, it doesn't matter if I send in my application by October, or November, or December.</p>
<p>But does it not even matter a little bit?</p>
<p>I mean....sure, they wait for all the applications to reach them before looking at them, but they probably look at them in chronological order, right?</p>
<p>So....if I am a published author who's applied December, and they've already chosen their quota of authors from October applicants, I'm doomed?</p>
<p>How exactly does RD work from within? </p>
<p>That's one important question! Please answer :P Thanks!</p>
<p>I only know the way decisions work at MIT, but I assume most admissions offices have roughly similar decision structures.</p>
<p>At MIT, all applications come in, and when they are found to be complete by the staff who open envelopes and assemble applications, they are given to admissions officers to be read. All applications are read by several readers, who summarize the application on a card and write their thoughts about the applicant. Around the middle of February, the admissions officers come together to select the class -- they sit in groups and discuss each applicant individually to decide whether he or she will be admitted. At the end of selection, all of the admitted students are re-read by the dean of admissions for a final check.</p>
<p>So applications which are sent in first will get read first, but no one is accepted or rejected until selection in February.</p>