<p>I will be starting college in the fall of 2011. So far I have only looked at three schools, and two I really like.I also have a few more visits set up for the beginning and middle of September. All visits should be done by the end of September.</p>
<p>When is the best time to apply? I would ideally like a response before Winter Break. Would the middle of November be a good time to apply, or is that too late?</p>
<p>Look at the deadlines for the schools, some have early deadlines others are rolling and most have a timeframe on when your receive notifications.
Apps take a long time so I would give yourself more then enough time to do everything and make it perfect, the last thing you want to do is send in a poor app because you didn’t have enough time to make it how you wanted!</p>
<p>If you are applying for financial aid - the sooner the better. Schools have a finite amount of aid to give and many tend to award it on a first-come-first-serve basis. Once it is gone, it is gone whether you qualify for it or not.</p>
<p>If you want a response before winter break, you need to apply early action (EA) or early decision (ED) at colleges that have those or to a school that does rolling admissions (sends out responses as apps are received). Generally, if you are intending to apply early action or early decison (and you can apply ED to only one school and it is binding if you are accepted), then for most you need to apply by Nov 1, and that means getting everything sent by that date including recommendations, essays, transcript and for some your test scores (although many even take Nov tests). EA/ED schools usually send decision, which can be accept, reject, or deferred to regular admission, about mid-December. For rolling admissions colleges, you will usually get a response about 3 to 4 weeks after they have received everything. In other words, if you are looking for a response by mid-December, you better start looking at what is required by colleges to which you might apply NOW and start getting things you need in progress including any recommendation letters if required (teachers often take a long time to prepare and send rec letters)</p>
<p>Otherwise, if you are looking at regular admission, most colleges have an early Jan app deadline and you are not informed until Feb, March, or April.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your help. As of now, all the colleges I am considering work on the rolling admissions policy. So that would mean it would take them 3-4 weeks to get back to me (on average), correct?</p>
<p>More or less. Also, they probably get back to you faster if you apply earlier, when they have fewer apps to sort through.</p>
<p>Also, with rolling admissions schools, you should apply earlier rather than later. As rolling admissions implies, they are filling the class as applications are received. Those who apply early have an advantage over those who apply late. For example, if you apply late you may actually be rejected for particular majors simply because they have already admitted all they are going to for those majors.</p>