Do you think it helps to apply early?

[med latte]

Do you think it helps to apply as early as the department accepts applications? (for example, submitting in Sept for a program with a Jan. 1st deadline).

 

This would add time to the agonizing wait, but are there advantages to being one of the first submissions? Or do they just put them aside and review later, anyway?

 

 

[emmm]

My guess is no.

[k_angie]

Well see if you have early admission deadlines or something, I think it helps. This is because a small number of students apply and chances of acceptances are higher. Having said that it's not a written rule either.

Though I applied early for all my admissions in mid November and with exception to one wait listing, I received all my acceptances by mid December.

So well I don't think it's a bad thing and would rather encourage you do so.

Good luck.

[TakeruK]

It depends on some programs, but I think in my field, and many science programs in the US, all of the applications are reviewed at once. The applications are collected as they come in and the admin staff put together packages that are distributed to the admissions committee when the time is right. Then, there is a period where they all review them and have a bunch of meetings to discuss what they think. In my current program, this happens in early/mid-January (decisions come late January) and sometimes we can see all of the profs suddenly disappear from their offices, locked away in one of these meetings, potentially! Or, we see windows minimized that have filenames like "Applications2014.xls" etc.

[rising_star]

My department is like TakeruK's in that all applications are reviewed at the same time. So, there's no real advantage to getting things in as soon as possible, since they won't be reviewed until after the deadline. Also, the potential downside is that you may have to keep emailing them updates if, for example, you get something accepted to a conference or for publication, improve your writing sample, win an award, etc.

[TakeruK]

Also, the potential downside is that you may have to keep emailing them updates if, for example, you get something accepted to a conference or for publication, improve your writing sample, win an award, etc.

Oh yeah, this is a good point! I waited until the day before the deadline to submit just in case there is something like this. There was one school that I changed my mind at the last minute and another school that I decided to apply to just a week before the deadline. I don't pay my fee until I submit, because they are usually non-refundable and I try to submit at least 24 hours before the real deadline so that the servers won't be clogged with a ton of other people submitting etc.

[mbiochem]

I don't think it matters if you get the applications in early.

 

I got all of my applications in literally minutes before the deadline and so far I have gotten interviews at all of the programs I applied to, except for one.  For one school, I actually didn't get it in by the deadline and I still got an invite to the program. Also, one of my letters of recommendation didn't get in until a week after the deadline.

 

That being said, it was pretty stressful trying to submit everything last minute... so you might want to get them done early for your own sanity, even if it doesn't really affect how competitive your application is.

[meaningless]

some programs have second round review and admission. i think it is safe to say most of the schools have something called "rolling review". if you are tried of waiting you can just submit that way before the deadline and if that is positive you should hear that earlier than expected.

 

but to be honest i don't think that makes so much a difference.

[juilletmercredi]

Most schools in my fields do not have rolling review.  There is a deadline, and the departmental secretary/administrator collects and organizes all of the applications until after the deadline.  In my departments the professors don't even see the applications until after the deadline, and since our deadline is December 15, I don't even think they really think about then in earnest until early January.

[Queen of Kale]

Most POIs reviewed my (freakishly early) applications before the deadline, often months before, but perhaps only because I had been in contact with them.

 

I do know that my current program will match applications to POIs pre-deadline and before the formal review. But the actual graduate advisory board meeting is a few weeks after the deadline. My POI has been complaining for two months about how few applications he's received versus last year and our deadline in still two months away or so.  

 

Conversely, one of my lab mates is a real fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants type and squeaked her applications in at the final hour.  And she's still here working beside (neurotic) me.  

 

For the programs that review applications early, I think it's unlikely they wouldn't save room for later candidates (although certainly some POIs might jump the gun) but rather the advantage is that you are sharing the spotlight (or desk space) with fewer applicants at the beginning.