<p>I'm a rising senior and I was wondering if there is any advantage in submitting applications early?</p>
<p>By advantage, I mean either receiving my results early or gaining a competitive edge (possibly because the admissions office isn't tired of reading applications yet?)?</p>
<p>No, not really. It’s more of a disadvantage. Seriously, you’ll find that the short answer you wrote 2 months ago looking back can be tweaked here and there, or that you made some grammar mistakes and kill yourself over submitting. Take things slowly with Common App. Take your time, and put a lot of effort into everything you submit.</p>
<p>Is the essay the only reason this would be a disadvantage?</p>
<p>There isn’t an advantage, since they start reviewing applications after the deadline (e.g., deadline is January 1 – they start reviewing on Jan 2 or after that). I don’t think the essay thing is a disadvantage as long as you are 100% sure that you are finished with it. Don’t even look at the essay after you submit the Common App because then you may find errors or things you want to change like PoliSci said.</p>
<p>I just got mine in 6 hours before a deadline. Yeah!</p>
<p>For some state schools with rolling admission, yes. The more popular majors will fill up quickly.</p>