Proper timing

[MaxwellEdison]

So, I'm extremely green to the grad school application game. I've found material from a graduate school I'm planning on applying to that suggests you apply in December, although that seems a bit late in the game to me (are people getting interviews already?).

So when *should* one apply? I think it goes without saying that the sooner the better, and of course the quality of the application is a mitigating factor, but if I'm complete by Thanksgiving, will I be early, on time, late, or worse?

PS: if it helps your answer, the broad outline of my application is as follows:

UG GPA: 3.47

Master's Degree, GPA: 3.66

GRE: V690/Q770/AW5.5

3 years experience in research, publications...well, they'll appear eventually (I'm a scientist)

[fuzzylogician]

What do you mean "the grad school suggests you apply in December"? Check the site more carefully. If there is no fixed deadline that would mean that the school has rolling admissions, in which case the sooner you get your application in, the better. If there's a deadline it shouldn't make a difference when you submit, as long as it's in time. In any case, December deadlines are not late.

[pea-jay]

some schools reference a december date for consideration for financial aid of any sort. All of mine need to be in by Jan for that, but have deadlines as late as june if you are willing to pay out of pocket and chance it on admissions.

[johndiligent]

So when *should* one apply?

Well, I've read in a lot of places and been told by my profs that it's pretty standard to apply a month ahead of the earliest deadline the school specifies. So if the earliest deadline they give is December 15, you should attempt to have everything in by November 15.

That said, that's what you should do, not what you have to do. Obviously, anything that's in before the deadline will get consideration.

[rising_star]

As long as your applications are in by the deadline, I don't think there's any "proper time" to submit. I submitted everything just before the deadlines (I never mailed anything more than 4 days before the deadline). I don't think it hurt my applications at all, in spite of what the other poster's professor told him/her about submitting things a month early.

[tarski]

From what people have said in this thread, it sounds like being early is generally something you don't have to worry about.

However, a very few programs say on their websites that they start looking at applications early and that they do like early applications, so keep an eye open. For philosophy, I've noticed that UPenn & Arizona say this.