<p>Do colleges look at applications when they receive them, or do they look at them after the deadline? I'm not talking about rolling admissions either</p>
<p>Most colleges start reading completed applications as soon as possible. I don’t think any schools wait until the deadline to start reading.</p>
<p>They wait till the last minute, draw a bunch of applicants out of a box, and accept them.</p>
<p>Just kidding. They start reading when their admissions people are back from doing regional representation and going around promoting their college, which is near the deadline.</p>
<p>ok, but would submitting my applications a day before the deadline hinder my chances of getting accepted? or does that not matter</p>
<p>^It won’t matter, but it’s only in theory. But they do sub-consciously dislike it. Submitting very near the deadline suggests that you do not have much passion for that school.</p>
<p>@beretta9mm,
says who?</p>
<p>kiterunner18, do you mean to say that what beretta9mm said is inaccurate?</p>
<p>I’m as curious as Kiterunner about why Beretta says that. I submitted mine the night before, simply because that’s how I operate with most deadlines. I didn’t think they would even take notice.</p>
<p>@independent92, I’m just curious about what evidence beretta9mm has to back up his/her assertion. To be honest, I don’t think it’s a big deal. I mean, some schools like Princeton/Brown have an applicant pool of close to 30k. I doubt adcoms would have the time to scrutinize an applicant in that much detail. Like, would they really reject someone they’re looking for just because they submitted right before the deadline? Furthermore, even if one did submit right before the deadline and the college HAPPENED to notice that, I doubt it would be an “omg this is awful” factor in admissions. HS kids nowadays are busy, and extenuating circumstances come up. Heck, a kid might want to be 100% sure that his/her essays and application are correct. </p>
<p>@rroserred, I operate the same way. :-P</p>
<p>There are some colleges (Harvard for example) that do explicitly say “hey, get your application in earlier and we’ll read it earlier”. But if they don’t say that, it probably doesn’t matter when exactly you submit.</p>
<p>thanks guys</p>
<p>Beretta is totally guessing. Files are read when they are completed – that is when all the materials are in. Most of the materials are not what the applicant sends. So it doesn’t matter if you send your app in November 1 or December 31 at 11:55PM if your school reports and teacher recs don’t hit your file until Feb 20th. It remains unread until after Feb 20th. </p>
<p>Since this is out of the control of the applicant, why would any sane admissions officer draw any notion about the student? That’s idiocy.</p>
<p>For Beretta to impart some “it shows you’re not passionate” label to later-submitted application is fear mongering rubbish, to be frank.</p>
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<p>Well, the admissions officer from Pitzer certainly said he rolled his eyes as he saw applications nearly double in the last few minutes of submitting. Ask almost any Adcom officer. If they don’t avoid the question, they’ll probably tell you it’s annoying to know they’ve been put off to the last moment.</p>
<p>It doesn’t show lack of passion so much as “laziness and procrastination.”</p>
<p>They probably won’t be able to match names of applicants to submission time, so it’s a more general annoyance than anything else.</p>