<p>Hey all, brief question:</p>
<p>Would submitting one's application as early as possible, on the first day, December 1, be a nice touch for the Harvard admissions people? Has anyone heard anything from such representatives encouraging them to submit early? (aside from the fact that obviously they would say they personally prefer that people submit early, has anyone heard insiders say that it is a nice, even if minor, touch?)</p>
<p>Thanks! :D</p>
<p>I believe it makes it more convenient for the admissions people to set up interviews. I haven’t heard of submission dates having any significant effects on applicants- except that you might be interviewed at an earlier date.</p>
<p>I haven’t heard any reliable person claim that there is a boost afforded to those who apply early.</p>
<p>Nope, none whatsoever.</p>
<p>I know of more successful applicants who submitted later rather than earlier. </p>
<p>I myself submitted less than an hour before the final deadline, I think on December 31 or January 1.</p>
<p>(Basically: there is no advantage or disadvantage.)</p>
<p>Maybe they will review your apps early?</p>
<p>i dont think theres any direct relationship. no adcom is gonna go, lets accept (or reject) this guy cuz he submitted (did not submit) by 12/1. i submitted in early november for harvard and princeton and i got owned by princeton, so obviously no noticeable help there.</p>
<p>but i remember reading something on this forum or maybe it was the princeton one cuz they also ask for it by 12/1) that some adcom basically said that theres no real help but at the same time, he cant help the fact that the first 200 essays he reads are more interesting than the last 200 from a mentality standpoint</p>
<p>Yeah. And maybe the adcoms’ minds are still fresh when reading early submissions.</p>
<p>“If you decide to apply, please do so well in advance of our January 1 deadline (and if possible, by December 1). Applications will be read in the order in which they are completed.”</p>
<p>This was in a letter that came with the application that I got in the mail, so it sounds like the earlier you submit it, the better, but they won’t hold it against you for submitting it on the last day.</p>
<p>The earlier you submit, the better. At the on-campus open house the Harvard official position was:
“It will help your application [because we will be fresher and look more favorably on people who help us out and have their act together].”
AND
“It won’t affect your chances at all.”
At the same time. If you’re ready on Dec. 1, do you really want to take the chance that position one was true? On the other hand, if you will submit a better application later than Dec. 1, do you really want to take the chance that the extra EC awards (say regionals in a sports team or whatever) or time spent polishing essays will move you from accept to waitlist, or waitlist to reject?</p>
<p>Harvard began asking people to try and submit earlier, a few years back, when they stopped doing early decision. Early decision meant that there were two waves of applicants, at different times, effectively organizing the adcom’s work into two big waves.</p>
<p>Without early decision, they were afraid, if everyone applied at the deadline, it would be overwhelming and impossible to review in time. </p>
<p>So, submitting early helps them. Whether it helps you, I have no idea. It is certainly considerate.</p>
<p>The OP called Dec. 1 “the first day”, which is not true. You can send it in anytime before. Recruited athletes often submit in Sept. or Oct. to be eligible for likely letters, or get a preread from coaches.</p>
<p>[Harvard</a> College Admissions § Applying: Frequently Asked Questions](<a href=“http://admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/faq.html#27]Harvard”>http://admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/faq.html#27)</p>
<p>Are a student’s chances of admission enhanced by submitting application materials before other applicants?</p>
<p>No. We request, however, that students submit the Common Application and the Harvard Application Supplement by December 1 if possible. Receipt of these two forms allows us to expedite application processing and to arrange personal interviews more quickly.</p>
<p>Some people are forgetting that Harvard University’s “official position” doesn’t always = reality.</p>
<p>^^^ Although Harvard sometimes has its own internal way of doings things, which differ from their “official policy”, it’s not helpful to speculate on what happens in the admissions office, unless you have observed first-hand a different reality.</p>
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<p>True. But given that multiple posters (myself included) have observed admissions officers saying things like, “The first half of essays are always more interesting…”, I think it is best to answer this question with a “perhaps, but not officially” rather than citing admissions website dogma and saying:</p>
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<p>D specifically reordered her applications so that she could honor Harvard’s request of submitting by Dec 1. To be honest, if you have already submitted other applications Harvard’s is rather easy. D just used essays she had completed for other schools. It only took as long as it took to fill out the form.</p>
<p>As for the argument that additional awards might come after Dec 1, remember you can always submit updates and there is always the midyear report. If essays are not complete then that is a different story.</p>