<p>Does submitting your app a few days early (3-5 days) help at all? Apparently a retired MIT admissions officer told a friend of mine that there's a separate pile for those who turn in their applications in the last 1-2 days and those that turn it in before that. Consequently, the ones who turn in their a bit earlier get brownie points for not procrastinating. I thought it was utter BS when i heard it but i just want to clarify. </p>
<p>Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>i dont think it’s a separate file…i always thought of it as they have more time to read it over if you turn it in early because they wont have a huge stack to read over. but that’s just my prediction.</p>
<p>I think that some schools have a bias towards those who turn their applications in early. I think WashU likes applications that are turned in really early and it’s possible that MIT does too. Sending it in early doesn’t necessarily mean that a student procrastinated but turning it in early definitely means that a student didn’t procrastinate. You see what i’m getting at? Colleges have a lot of applications to read every year and the earlier some apps are turned in, the easier it is for them. </p>
<p>If you were an admissions officer about to read hundreds of essays for weeks in a row, when you can read a big pile of your apps before you’re supposed to start, you would definitely be in a happier mood wouldn’t you? Just finish your app as soon as you can, and when you’re ready submit it. Make your app the best you can and don’t let time be a huge factor.</p>
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<p>I think you mean:</p>
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<p>Some people turn in their applications weeks and even months early… I don’t think it makes that big of a difference, though, although some schools might read apps in the order received (although whether being at the beginning or end confers an advantage can also be debated). But if it did matter, I think 3-5 days early would be indistinguishable from 1-2 days early.</p>
<p>I don’t think there’s a separate stack but these people are human. Of course, people will be happier to read some essays to just get it over with.</p>
<p>Just at my school, I know that even though there are deadlines for submitting transcript requests, etc, they are much more careful and considerate before. They don’t have the time or inclination to spend as much time looking at the nitty-gritty.</p>
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As someone familiar with the MIT admissions process, I can tell you that this is not true at MIT.</p>
<p>Applications are read as they’re processed, which doesn’t necessarily relate to when they were submitted. And the first-read applications don’t get any sort of advantage.</p>
<p>Allright guys, thanks for the replies. I’ll turn in my app whenever I’m ready to which will most likely be a couple of days early.</p>
<p>can i send in my applications for regualr decison after their first early decision? how does that work? especially with merit-aid deadlines</p>