Some field send out admission so early

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I mean, according to the survey, some field like Chemistry and Chemical Engineering send out admission so early. I do not think they have interviews or anything. Just out of curiosity, is this related to the nature of research or it is a culture thing formulated through years of competitions between programs.

[TakeruK]

I think it's the nature of the department and the "norms" of the field. Also, it's related to the competitiveness of the school. For example, I've noticed that top schools generally send out decisions earlier and lower ranked schools take longer. I think there are at least two reasons:

1. Top schools have more resources and they can afford to "overcommit" on a year. That is, if they want 30 students but send out 70 offers and 40 students accept, they can probably handle the extra load (they'll just take less students next year and average it out). But smaller schools need to be a little more careful since they might not be able to afford so many extra students. So, they might make 40 offers first, wait for their response, then make more to fill a class of 30, for example. Most top ranked programs in my field will make offers between mid-January and February.

2. Lower ranked schools are often "safety" schools for applicants wanting to attend top ranked schools. So, by waiting a few weeks (most of these programs in my field make offers in late-February or mid March), by the time they make the offer to the top applicants, the top applicants would already know about their top choices and would likely decline their offer (or withdraw the application). This allows them to make good offers directly to the students who are trying to get into their program, instead of just having them as a "backup". If these lower ranked schools made offers to the best candidates in January, most of the offers would just be sitting around unanswered because the top candidates are likely waiting to hear from top schools and will not be ready to decide yet.

As for interviewing, I think it just depends on whether the field normally interviews. Mine does not normally conduct interviews.

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17 hours ago, TakeruK said:

I think it's the nature of the department and the "norms" of the field. Also, it's related to the competitiveness of the school. For example, I've noticed that top schools generally send out decisions earlier and lower ranked schools take longer. I think there are at least two reasons:

1. Top schools have more resources and they can afford to "overcommit" on a year. That is, if they want 30 students but send out 70 offers and 40 students accept, they can probably handle the extra load (they'll just take less students next year and average it out). But smaller schools need to be a little more careful since they might not be able to afford so many extra students. So, they might make 40 offers first, wait for their response, then make more to fill a class of 30, for example. Most top ranked programs in my field will make offers between mid-January and February.

2. Lower ranked schools are often "safety" schools for applicants wanting to attend top ranked schools. So, by waiting a few weeks (most of these programs in my field make offers in late-February or mid March), by the time they make the offer to the top applicants, the top applicants would already know about their top choices and would likely decline their offer (or withdraw the application). This allows them to make good offers directly to the students who are trying to get into their program, instead of just having them as a "backup". If these lower ranked schools made offers to the best candidates in January, most of the offers would just be sitting around unanswered because the top candidates are likely waiting to hear from top schools and will not be ready to decide yet.

As for interviewing, I think it just depends on whether the field normally interviews. Mine does not normally conduct interviews.

Actually I just noticed Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, regardless of which university, seems to offer admission right now without interviews. Maybe it is because it is easier to publish in these fields so they only need to look into publications?