Does a Feb 1st Deadline for Application Mean its Less Compet?

[mrmirv]

Something I always wanted to know...if a school has a Feb 1st deadline for application...does that mean it is less competitive for admission? Just curious!

[StudentForever]

Something I always wanted to know...if a school has a Feb 1st deadline for application...does that mean it is less competitive for admission? Just curious!

I only know from my personal experience applying a few years ago. I applied to schools in the 15-50 range. The due dates for applications ranged from the middle of December to early February, and it wasn't in order of competitiveness (the least competitive was due first). I know at my top 20, applications are due before February but aren't reviewed until the first week in February. Basically, I wouldn't hang your hat on due dates indicating quality or competitiveness.

[IRmiester666]

The only program with a later than usual deadline that I'm aware of (I'm sure there are many more) is very competitive and not at all easy to get into. If we are thinking of the same school, then good luck with Wash-STL.

[APGradApplicant]

Nothing to do with a program's competitiveness and everything to do with when departments draw up their budgets/when the admissions committee can meet. If you look through the results thread from last year, you'll see that most schools (I think 13/15 that I applied to) don't notify applicants of decisions until after Feb 1...and even so, a department would have to be pretty desperate to say to themselves "OK, our best bet is a late deadline...that way we can get some really good applicants who got shut out from better schools and decide to throw in an app at last minute".