<p>So, I finally submitted my common application last night to the three schools I'm applying to, one of which was Harvard. While reading some threads here on the forums, I found that someone claimed that Harvard "reads applications in the order that they were submitted."</p>
<p>First of all, is this true? Second of all, will the simple act of submitting my application on 01/01/2011 detract from my application?</p>
<p>I think they do read applications in the order that they’re submitted, but I know that submitting your application on the deadline isn’t going to detract from it.</p>
<p>No. It makes no difference… relax</p>
<p>Harvard does read the applications in the order they were submitted, but it doesn’t affect your chances. How early you submit really only possibly affects your chances of getting an interview</p>
<p>They do read the applications in the order that they are submitted. This is a fact.</p>
<p>Submitting your application will not disadvantage you in any way though. If you are worthy of acceptance, you’ll be accepted regardless of when you have submitted your application.</p>
<p>The admissions officers DO read your applications in the order they come in; that is a verified fact. They will not penalize you for submitting it later rather than earlier.</p>
<p>However, submitting this so late could hurt your chances because your application is being read last. It’s like doing a class presentation: the first person gets a decent grade, and somewhat better than they deserved since the teacher has nothing to judge them against. The last person in the class is being compared to all of the presentations in the class, so they have to be really good to get a good grade.</p>
<ol>
<li>
</li>
</ol>
<p>I’m curious. What’s the source for this information? I assume somebody read it someplace credible. To be clear, I’m not questioning the claim. I’m just curious about the citation.</p>
<ol>
<li> That may actually be among the fairer ways to read them. I wouldn’t want mine read first, exactly, when there’s nothing to be measured against. The reader probably evaluates the first applications conservatively, to allow room to say, “Well, Danny and Gwen definitely deserve to be ranked higher than that first guy,” but it probably does help to be in the first third of the pool. It’s certainly better than reading them, say, alphabetically. To read them (at least, all the applications that met the deadline) at random might be fairest, but it seems too likely that somebody’s application could be omitted that way. And that would be TOTALLY unfair.</li>
</ol>
<p>^^ Harvard has years of experience - they know about what standard is needed. They will also not just read every app once - goes through phases. So I disagree with the statement that having your app read last is bad.</p>
<p>It makes no difference when your app is read as to your chances of acceptance. The point about the interview is valid though.</p>
<p>@Sikorsky: the admissions officer at the information session I attended said that they read the applications in the order they come in. I think I may have seen it on Harvard’s website, but maybe I’m confusing that with CB or CC.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Harvard has years of experience, but not all admissions officers have. A lot of admissions officers are young alumni who do that job for a few years. Or, at least, that was the case when I was a young alumnus. </p>
<p>And I have years of experience as a teacher, but I still get restive and cranky after a while.</p>
<p>@2Chill–thanks.</p>
<p>In case there was any doubt:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Harvard</a> College Admissions § Applying: Freshman Application Process](<a href=“http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/application_process/index.html]Harvard”>http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/apply/application_process/index.html)</p>
<p>Well, that does indeed seem authoritative, jgraider. Thanks.</p>
<p>No problem :)</p>
<p>At this point it’d be redundant to post that Harvard does read apps in the order…nah, not even going to finish that.</p>
<p>But whether they (involuntarily) form some sort of bias against you? I doubt that. Apart from experience, Harvard reads apps more than once, so even with the first person, whom they had nobody to compare to, the difference, if it exists at all, wouldn’t last. Or at least it wouldn’t change the decision</p>
<p>Long story short: if they want you, you’ll get in.</p>
<p>The only thing that comes to my mind about reading the applications last is that if they really have minimal spots remaining to admit students and in that regard just can’t admit you by the time they get to you no matter what because they need to fill some of their other quotas such as questbridge applicants or URM.</p>
<p>Although it doesn’t officially affect your chances, the Harvard representative at an information session said that they end up being more interested in the first essays that they read compared to the last essays that they read. So you can take that how you want</p>
<p>It’s quite obvious that if they read them in the order they are submitted (which has been confirmed they do), the last people are at an innate disadvantage even if the admission committee says they are not. It’s human bias not intentional. The adcoms aren’t machines, they get tired, even just a little, too. Think about it, what jgraider said is completely true, you would naturally be more interested in essays 1-15,000 than say the last 3,000 essays from 27,000-30,000. It’s just human psych, not that they intentionally hold it against you; I’m sure they are telling the truth when they say they don’t try to. But we are all humans, I am confident that anyone’s, even Harvard adcoms’s, degree of interest will wane after some 26k applications.</p>
<p>Harvard doesn’t participate in QuestBridge, FYI</p>
<p>Thank you for the correction, I always keep thinking it does because Yale and Brown do. I have to stop mixing them up.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>True, but knowing that they can only accept ~7% of the applications they read, adcom won’t want to start accepting the first few aps that they read, so the first 500 - 1000 aps are at a distinct disadvantage. The ‘sweet spot’ is probably around the 40% mark, or ap #12,000 - the adcom is not yet worn down by the volume of applications, but has seen enough to begin admitting people. Of course the downside is that the brightest applicants have probably also decided to be applicant #12,000 which will put your ap in the midst of the most brilliant essays in the pool. Hmmmm…</p>