How soon should I apply to PhD programs?

[thepeeps]

I'm applying to roughly 7 different programs this upcoming Fall 2019.  I received my Bachelor's in English with a concentration in Rhetoric, and while my GPA in my English courses was fine and I'm doing my Masters from 2019-2020, I'd feel more comfortable and confident having at least my first semester grades from my Masters program show up on my transcripts.  While my overall GPA for my English courses is high there's a couple English courses on my transcript that I got low B's in that I'm not happy about.  I know I'm just hard on myself, but I can only imagine all the other people applying with me will have straight A's.  I talked to my friend about this (whose applying for PhD's in the sciences) and she kind of freaked out when I told her I planned on delaying applying to some of my programs until fall grades were in.  She told me that at least in the science, if you apply even two weeks before the deadline it looks bad and goes against you.  Does anyone know if it's true?  

There's three schools I have to apply to regardless of grades since their deadlines are before fall grades come in.  The rest fall between early Jan-mid Feb.  

Any advice?  Should I just forget about grades from my Masters and applying to all my schools all at once?  Should I apply at different times?  

[Glasperlenspieler]

I can't speak for every program, but in the programs I'm familiar with (all in the humanities), the admissions committee typically doesn't even read application materials until after the submission deadline. The sciences might be a different story, but for English programs it shouldn't make any difference whatsoever whether you hit submit the day things are due or a month beforehand.

[thepeeps]

4 hours ago, Glasperlenspieler said:

I can't speak for every program, but in the programs I'm familiar with (all in the humanities), the admissions committee typically doesn't even read application materials until after the submission deadline. The sciences might be a different story, but for English programs it shouldn't make any difference whatsoever whether you hit submit the day things are due or a month beforehand.

That's what I was worried about, my friend whose in the sciences made it sound like rolling admission, such as they'll be looking at each application as it comes in and if I applied a week before they'll already have other students in mind and they'll automatically not want me if that makes sense.  Thank you for easing my nerves!  For me having those fall grades is kind of essential.

If anyone else knows anything please contribute still

[Pnwonder]

I would second Glasperlenspieler's advice. I didn't submit any of my applications until right around the day before they were due and was accepted to almost every program I applied to, so in my experience there should be no problem with waiting to submit until you have fall grades in. If you have questions about Rhetoric programs in particular too, feel free to DM me!

[thepeeps]

On 6/16/2019 at 6:28 PM, Pnwonder said:

I would second Glasperlenspieler's advice. I didn't submit any of my applications until right around the day before they were due and was accepted to almost every program I applied to, so in my experience there should be no problem with waiting to submit until you have fall grades in. If you have questions about Rhetoric programs in particular too, feel free to DM me!

Thank you very much!  My mind has been eased, at least a little bit.