When do we start applying?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I have a question about early decision and regular decision. Rice University is my top-choice, so I will be applying early decision there (deadline is Nov 1). Does this mean that I should wait to hear my admission decision from Rice and then apply to other colleges regular decision, or just send all my applications at the same time?</p>

<p>Another question--does it make a difference in my decision if I apply really early, ie August 1 or relatively late, ie October 29? My parents are really getting nervous about the whole admissions process, and are trying to make me apply very early while I'm trying to calm them down.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot, this is something that has really been confusing me.</p>

2

<p>bumping post because i'd also REALLY love to know the answer to this!! i'm in the same situation.</p>

3

<p>If it is a rolling admission school, then applying early is to your benefit. If it's a deadline school then applying early really has no bearing, I <em>think</em>. That's what I've been told anyways, please correct me if I'm wrong. </p>

<p>You could just get them done early to get it out of the way though :) lol.</p>

4

<p>A mom here. </p>

<p>First, for the OP only, you're in Houston, so go over to the Rice admissions office today and visit with them about your questions and concerns! Every contact is recorded and demonstrates your interest in their school, which is an important piece of the puzzle. Along those lines, have you already taken a tour and attended an info session? Many familiar Houstonians skip those steps as unnecessary--don't! You'll learn something new, and you'll earn another "interest point" in your file. [You're probably way ahead of me on all of this, but in case there is another reader who isn't, there are any number of appropriate things you can do so your dream school sees your consistent expressions of interest, especially when you live in the same city.]</p>

<p>Second, for the OP and everyone else, the following is the fairly consistent message I've been hearing from guidance counselors and admissions officers. Other CC'ers may offer a different perspective...and as I suggested, for school-specific questions, there's no reason not to go straight to the source!</p>

<p>Re: submitting other apps even if you are applying binding early decision to your dream school - Go ahead and submit an early fall app to one non-binding match or safety you'd be excited about attending, especially a rolling decision school, if you have one. Putting together a strong app before you finalize your ED app is good practice and allows time to reflect on anything you might tweak in the ED app. Even better, if you get the reasonably expected "You're in" reply, you can be a bit more relaxed earlier in your senior year knowing you have the certain option of going to a college you like. This seems to be particularly good advice now that rejections, deferrals and wait lists are something many well-qualified students are facing from their dream schools. (The flip side of the coin is, if you get an unexpected negative response to your early "backup" app, it will be a wake-up call that something is not adding up the way you envisioned and give you plenty of time to regroup.)</p>

<p>Re: when to send in your ED app - If today, you look absolutely "knock your socks off" stunning on paper AND it would make your senior fall significantly less stressful to go ahead and submit your ED app to your dream school (a consideration for some due to fall sports or fine arts, a challenging class load or anticipated assignment, a family illness, move or other intense personal scenario, etc.), then sure, work hard on it from now on and, preferably with your high school college counselor's blessing, send it in as soon as they open the door. But most everyone I've heard speak to this point has suggested giving your senior fall a bit of time so you can, e.g., add any new positives to your application, delete a class that you drop because it just doesn't work out and give your essays and short answers time to mature, e.g., you may want to incorporate changes of perspective you gain as your senior experience unfolds or get a fresh read by a new favorite teacher.</p>

<p>Speaking of those prose short answers, one of the most helpful tips I've heard from an admissions officer is to put your best effort into those answers, just as you do for an essay--they're not simply blanks to hastily fill in at 11:55 p.m. before you hit "send." He said you wouldn't believe how many students have obviously spent hours-to-months on an essay, but offer a shallow, off-the-cuff short answer and/or sloppily compose a short answer that includes sentence fragments, misspellings, improper grammar and punctuation, mistaken reference to another college, etc.</p>

5

<p>Thanks so much for the replies. That certainly clears things up a bit.</p>

<p>Now my only worry is when I find out about my ED decision. Let's say that I find out that I was rejected by Rice on December 15, or even later. I believe most colleges' RD deadline is January 1. In the strange case that I have not heard of my ED decision before the RD deadline, I should just go ahead and send my RD apps, correct?
This is especially important for me since I will be leaving the country on December 18 for Christmas break.</p>

<p>Major Edit:
So today my father called the Rice admissions office. According to him, I am advised to submit all the applications together with my Rice ED application. Should I be accepted by Rice, all my other applications are rescinded. This seems a little suspicious to me since that could potentially be a waste of a lot of money compared to waiting for my ED decision and then applying to my RD colleges. Plus, this means that my ED and RD applications would look exactly the same--I thought you're supposed to make your RD application look better than the ED app if you are rejected.</p>

<p>Consequently, I'm a bit wary of what my father said since he might have misunderstood the lady over the phone, so could somebody please verify this? Thanks.</p>

<p>P.S. TXArtemis, would attending such info sessions actually be a tip in admissions? I think I'm somewhat acquainted with the Rice campus (I worked there one summer), so the info sessions might be a waste of time for me unless they confer some advantage in the admissions process. Thanks for the help again.</p>

6

<p>Info sessions are admission sessions. The tour is the campus/school info session.</p>

7

<p>You should consider scholarship deadlines for the other schools rather than just the application deadline. For instance at Indiana you need to have your application in by Nov 1 to receive academic scholarship consideration.</p>

8

<p>You don't need to send in RD applications to other schools at the same time you send in your ED application to your preferred school, but you can. I think TX Artemis ^^^^ give some sound advice here on the process, especially why you might want to send in apps in waves.</p>

<p>Just finishing up a college tour with my D. Several admissions officers advised getting applications in well before the final deadlined even if you're not applying ED and even if they don't use rolling admissions. Couple of reasons: first, if you submit early it gives you time to contact them and get confirmation that your app is complete; if you wait until the deadline, it may be too late to correct any omissions. Also, especially for those that get a lot of apps, they start reviewing files as they come in even if they aren't actually deciding on a rolling basis. They appreciate being able to get a jump on the process, your app will get a good thorough read (they don't quite say they need to cut corners at the end, but they must be under tremendous pressure), and all of that means if your app is strong it's just a little more likely to get favorable consideration.</p>