send out applications now????

[gurumaster8899]

is it too early....assuming they will get the recommendations and the rest of the stuff by the end of the month??

[cheesethunder]

i heard hte earlier the better

i know iwanna get mine out asap!

[fuzzylogician]

For me the process of editing the sop led to definite improvements and refinements so October would have been too early, but early-mid November would have been fine. I guess it depends on how strongly you feel that your application is finalized and there's nothing you can do to improve it. Sometimes even simply taking a step back and letting it sit for a week or two can do the trick - either you're happy with it or you feel there's room for improvement. But it's probably not too early, if you feel that you're ready. If the online application for this year has opened, then the school should be ready to receive application packets.

i heard hte earlier the better

It's important for obvious reasons in cases of rolling admissions. Otherwise it's mostly good for peace of mind and ease of dealing with mistakes and misplaced materials.

[kahlan_amnell]

Unless it is rolling admissions, I would say it is too early. You can still work on your applications and improve them. Even if you don't want to work on them anymore, I'd say sending them in this early might mean they get lost, so wait a while.

[socialcomm]

Does anyone else have applications that don't send the letter of rec writers the requests out until the application is submitted? I've given my letter of rec writers a heads up, but still want to give them plenty of time to do their part before the deadlines.

[fuzzylogician]

Does anyone else have applications that don't send the letter of rec writers the requests out until the application is submitted? I've given my letter of rec writers a heads up, but still want to give them plenty of time to do their part before the deadlines.

I had one like that. I made sure my recommenders would know the prompt will only be sent after I submitted the app and that I would let them know when that would be. I worked on those apps first and submitted them so that my lor writers had at least a month to write the letters in. Eventually, even though I gave them more than 3 months advance notice, they all submitted all (eight) letters on the week(/day/hour) of the deadline. ugh.

[rainy_day]

they all submitted all (eight) letters on the week(/day/hour) of the deadline. ugh.

Fuzzylogician, do you mean that you had 8 LoRs for each school? Is that recommended? I have 4, and was considering a 5th, but was afraid that was overkill.

[socialcomm]

Fuzzylogician, do you mean that you had 8 LoRs for each school? Is that recommended? I have 4, and was considering a 5th, but was afraid that was overkill.

Wow - 8! With most online apps they only let me include three. Beyond that, they'd have to use the hard copy rec forms.

[acup313]

I have already submitted all of my applications, but 1 because that one does not open applications until November. I submitted mine, because I knew I wouldn't change anything else, and I am hoping that if I get any interviews I can get them as early as possible. Also, I had a Graduate School director tell me that even though their deadline was in January they very much prefer to have all of the application materials by the 1st of December.

[coyabean]

All nine or 11 of mine will be done by next week. I started my SOPs in the summer, finished my writing sample during a summer fellowship and took my second, and final, GRE two weeks ago. It's done. I'm down to just tweaking a word here and there.

I want it off my desk and my mind.

The only issue now is money and LORs. I have two of my three.

My earliest application is due in November so I don't feel too crazy.

[fuzzylogician]

Wow - 8! With most online apps they only let me include three. Beyond that, they'd have to use the hard copy rec forms.

Ugh. Note to self: In the morning, FIRST drink (at least one cup of) coffee, and only THEN post on forums.

I meant that I applied to 8 schools, so each of my recommenders[1] wrote a total of eight letters. Each of them submitted ALL of their letters ON THE DAY OF THE DEADLINE. So it didn't matter that I rushed to finish my apps early and give them a month to do it in. Plus the two months advance notice they had before that. And the fact that they could easily write the letters in a word document and have it ready before they even got the prompt.

[1] I had 4 recommenders. Should have been 3 but one seemed like she was about to flake 10 days before the deadline so I added to 4th just to be sure. Long story.

[zilch]

sending out applications now or later is really up to you, since they're mostly electronic now, it's unlikely that they'll get lost. Since you have them finished already I would recommend not looking at them for a little bit and then go back and read through it with fresh eyes as a final check before you submit it.

fuzzylogician that's pretty rough. I remember sitting during one of my early deadlines constantly hitting the refresh button on my browser to see if my last letter had been submitted yet. It is not a pleasant experience.

[kahlan_amnell]

sending out applications now or later is really up to you, since they're mostly electronic now, it's unlikely that they'll get lost. Since you have them finished already I would recommend not looking at them for a little bit and then go back and read through it with fresh eyes as a final check before you submit it.

fuzzylogician that's pretty rough. I remember sitting during one of my early deadlines constantly hitting the refresh button on my browser to see if my last letter had been submitted yet. It is not a pleasant experience.

Almost all applications have a few things that can't be submitted electronically, like GRE scores, transcriptions, and sometimes LORs. These are the sort of things that most often get lost anyway, so I'd think that sending in an application early, when they might not be ready to receive applications yet, might mean a higher chance of things getting lost.

However, someone mentioned applications due in November. If that is the case, then I'd say it is ok to send them in now. I was thinking of December, January, and February deadlines, which is mostly what I dealt with.

[fuzzylogician]

fuzzylogician that's pretty rough. I remember sitting during one of my early deadlines constantly hitting the refresh button on my browser to see if my last letter had been submitted yet. It is not a pleasant experience.

Yeah, waiting for my lor writers to upload the letters literally in the last hour before the deadline was brutal. Especially since three of my four lor writers were in a different country and I couldn't just go to their offices and refuse to leave until they finish writing the damn thing (which I sort of did with the fourth, flaky professor I mentioned earlier). But they all assured me they'd do it, and they all did come through in time, so I really shouldn't complain. There were posts last year from people whose writers were late or suddenly decided last minute that they didn't have the time - those people were seriously screwed.

[coyabean]

Almost all applications have a few things that can't be submitted electronically, like GRE scores, transcriptions, and sometimes LORs. These are the sort of things that most often get lost anyway, so I'd think that sending in an application early, when they might not be ready to receive applications yet, might mean a higher chance of things getting lost.

However, someone mentioned applications due in November. If that is the case, then I'd say it is ok to send them in now. I was thinking of December, January, and February deadlines, which is mostly what I dealt with.

For the record, some apps are all electronic -- even for transcripts and LORs. Princeton, for instance, makes you scan and upload EVERYTHING. And I think that when a school makes an application available that signals that they are ready to accept materials. i don't understand this them not being ready thing.

[alexis]

I agree. My feeling about it is that if they've opened the online application, I'm going to start sending them stuff. Once I give them my SSN, name, etc, they should be able to match up my mailed-in/other documents (GREs, transcripts). With most of my apps due in mid-December, I like to make sure all mailed materials are on their way as soon as possible; in this case, 2 months out, especially since one set of transcripts is coming from overseas. That being said, I'll probably wait until end of November-ish to submit my final online portion, eg my SoP, just to make sure. (Knowing me I'll be happy with it, submit it, then 2 weeks later think of a mistake.) It all depends on the person, but I would think especially for the parts that are out of our control (such as LORs and the mail), the earlier, the better...less stress that way. I gave my recommenders a deadline in November; I didn't even tell them what the actual application deadline was.

[fuzzylogician]

I gave my recommenders a deadline in November; I didn't even tell them what the actual application deadline was.

I'd be wary of doing this. Your recommenders can easily know the what the real deadlines are through other students who apply to the same schools and have asked for a lor, or they can find out online or through colleagues. They could think it dishonest if they find out you told them the deadline was, say, a month earlier than it actually was, they're busy people so it's quite conceivable that they'd plan things differently if they thought your letters were due in December, not November. Plus, schools' deadlines don't often change that much so if it's a month earlier than last year some people might find that strange and check it out. Point is - don't mislead your lor writers.

[alexis]

I'd be wary of doing this. Your recommenders can easily know the what the real deadlines are through other students who apply to the same schools and have asked for a lor, or they can find out online or through colleagues. They could think it dishonest if they find out you told them the deadline was, say, a month earlier than it actually was, they're busy people so it's quite conceivable that they'd plan things differently if they thought your letters were due in December, not November. Plus, schools' deadlines don't often change that much so if it's a month earlier than last year some people might find that strange and check it out. Point is - don't mislead your lor writers.

You have a good point- I should have explained better. I didn't lie to them and tell them the schools' deadlines were in November, I just asked them to please submit them by a certain date. I said something like "I'd like to get all my application materials, including the letters of recommendation, completed by Nov 17th. I hope that's okay, please let me know if it's not." They've known about the letters since at least September so I've given them time. I never mentioned the school's application deadline, just when I wanted things to be complete. I see my LOR providers a lot (they are my current professors) so we're having conversations about it, then I sent them an email with the details, etc. They understand that I'm trying to push ahead. I don't think it's a bad thing to give professors your own deadline that you'd like to get everything submitted by. That way, if they're late, or a recommender falls through, it's not the end of the world.

[rising_star]

You can send it whenever you want. The schools know they will be receiving applications. And really, things get lost regardless of when you send them. I did have a program lose a recommendation letter three times. Really, most programs don't give a rat's ass if your letters are a few days late.

[profound_g]

Applying early might get you an early admission offer

I think right now it's a bit too early, and hope to finish mine by mid Nov.

..I think I should begin writing a SOP.

[rising_star]

Applying early might get you an early admission offer .

Maybe, maybe not. I always applied right at the deadline (procrastinator by nature) and got admissions offers in January from two schools with Jan 1 deadlines... YMMV of course.

[kahlan_amnell]

For the record, some apps are all electronic -- even for transcripts and LORs. Princeton, for instance, makes you scan and upload EVERYTHING. And I think that when a school makes an application available that signals that they are ready to accept materials. i don't understand this them not being ready thing.

They don't ask for official transcripts to be sent as well?

I've seen some schools that ask you to scan transcripts, but then they also want them sent in the mail.

As for them not being ready, well, lets just say I've been through the application process a few times (MA and Ph.D.), and it was amazing how many things they lost. I think that doing anything out of the ordinary increases the chances of things getting lost.

[alexis]

Yeah it's true, one of my schools has you scan the transcripts, and they say you don't need to send official ones unless you're admitted (at which time, of course, if the info didn't match up, they would pull your offer). I think this is a pretty cool thing and hopefully more schools will start to do it, as it saves some of the money and hassle of the app process, and cuts down on their paperwork.