College Application Deadlines

[Anonymous]

Does it make any sense to apply early to colleges with application deadlines in January and February? Or have they set the application deadlines in January/February in order to see the applicant's first-semester grades?

Does applying early have any impact (negative or positive) on financial aid, including merit aid?

[Anonymous]

A lot of merit aid money is gone by Jan/Feb, so if you think your child qualifies, do early action. Some kids are still taking the SAT/ACT up until December so Jan/Feb works better. My DC has decent grades and reached the testing burn out stage in September so there was really no reason to wait. Did all apps early action except for one.

[Anonymous]

Do you mean early action or just submitting the application early. If the former, then the benefit is that your DC will hear earlier. The downside is that if you have a good senior fall it won't be counted - that's only important if you need to show he continuation of an upward trajectory or there is some other blemish in the earlier years.

Another benefit of early action at some schools is that it gives you time to apply for additional programs. At Michigan, for example, you can't apply for the Honors program until you've been accepted, and honors admission is on a rolling basis so it's much better to be able to apply early in the cycle.

If the latter then it varies a little bit by school. For some there is no benefit. Others have earlier deadlines to be considered for merit aid (I recall Wake Forest being one of these). Others may consider applications on a rolling basis - this is most common at large state schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you mean early action or just submitting the application early. If the former, then the benefit is that your DC will hear earlier. The downside is that if you have a good senior fall it won't be counted - that's only important if you need to show he continuation of an upward trajectory or there is some other blemish in the earlier years.

Another benefit of early action at some schools is that it gives you time to apply for additional programs. At Michigan, for example, you can't apply for the Honors program until you've been accepted, and honors admission is on a rolling basis so it's much better to be able to apply early in the cycle.

If the latter then it varies a little bit by school. For some there is no benefit. Others have earlier deadlines to be considered for merit aid (I recall Wake Forest being one of these). Others may consider applications on a rolling basis - this is most common at large state schools.

UMCP visited my DC school a few weeks ago and they told the students that they literally do not start looking at application until 11/2 (their early action deadline is 11/1).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of merit aid money is gone by Jan/Feb, so if you think your child qualifies, do early action. Some kids are still taking the SAT/ACT up until December so Jan/Feb works better. My DC has decent grades and reached the testing burn out stage in September so there was really no reason to wait. Did all apps early action except for one.

Thanks.

What about schools that don't have early action, and only have application dates in Jan/Feb?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you mean early action or just submitting the application early. If the former, then the benefit is that your DC will hear earlier. The downside is that if you have a good senior fall it won't be counted - that's only important if you need to show he continuation of an upward trajectory or there is some other blemish in the earlier years.

Another benefit of early action at some schools is that it gives you time to apply for additional programs. At Michigan, for example, you can't apply for the Honors program until you've been accepted, and honors admission is on a rolling basis so it's much better to be able to apply early in the cycle.

If the latter then it varies a little bit by school. For some there is no benefit. Others have earlier deadlines to be considered for merit aid (I recall Wake Forest being one of these). Others may consider applications on a rolling basis - this is most common at large state schools.

OP here. I'm referring to the latter - just submitting early. Is there any upside to submitting early at schools that (1) have no EA deadline; and (2) give merit aid (and have no earlier deadline for being considered for merit aid)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you mean early action or just submitting the application early. If the former, then the benefit is that your DC will hear earlier. The downside is that if you have a good senior fall it won't be counted - that's only important if you need to show he continuation of an upward trajectory or there is some other blemish in the earlier years.

Another benefit of early action at some schools is that it gives you time to apply for additional programs. At Michigan, for example, you can't apply for the Honors program until you've been accepted, and honors admission is on a rolling basis so it's much better to be able to apply early in the cycle.

If the latter then it varies a little bit by school. For some there is no benefit. Others have earlier deadlines to be considered for merit aid (I recall Wake Forest being one of these). Others may consider applications on a rolling basis - this is most common at large state schools.

For students who have performed well while taking a rigorous course load 9-11 grades, a good fall of even straight A's barely makes a dent in your GPA at that point. Did the math and it ends up being something like a .005 bump. Our thinking is that colleges like to see that you are taking a rigorous course load senior year. Taking several AP classes, performing well and submitting fall semester grades may be a good tactic for demonstrating performance under rigor, but many students will have some record of this prior to the fall of their senior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of merit aid money is gone by Jan/Feb, so if you think your child qualifies, do early action. Some kids are still taking the SAT/ACT up until December so Jan/Feb works better. My DC has decent grades and reached the testing burn out stage in September so there was really no reason to wait. Did all apps early action except for one.

Thanks.

What about schools that don't have early action, and only have application dates in Jan/Feb?

Good question! I believe all applications are treated equally at that point, as well as the distribution of merit aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you mean early action or just submitting the application early. If the former, then the benefit is that your DC will hear earlier. The downside is that if you have a good senior fall it won't be counted - that's only important if you need to show he continuation of an upward trajectory or there is some other blemish in the earlier years.

Another benefit of early action at some schools is that it gives you time to apply for additional programs. At Michigan, for example, you can't apply for the Honors program until you've been accepted, and honors admission is on a rolling basis so it's much better to be able to apply early in the cycle.

If the latter then it varies a little bit by school. For some there is no benefit. Others have earlier deadlines to be considered for merit aid (I recall Wake Forest being one of these). Others may consider applications on a rolling basis - this is most common at large state schools.

For students who have performed well while taking a rigorous course load 9-11 grades, a good fall of even straight A's barely makes a dent in your GPA at that point. Did the math and it ends up being something like a .005 bump. Our thinking is that colleges like to see that you are taking a rigorous course load senior year. Taking several AP classes, performing well and submitting fall semester grades may be a good tactic for demonstrating performance under rigor, but many students will have some record of this prior to the fall of their senior year.

This has nothing to do with the OP's question. HS in area send first semester grades to all schools the student applied ( or intended when they asked the HS to send their transcript in hte fall), so they will see those grades regardless of when the student applied.

OP, we were told by several universities that they generally look at applications as they come in and regard later applicants as not as interested in their school as earlier applicants. Most have a start date for looking at applications, so applications received up to that point would all be considered early.

[Anonymous]

Depending on the school, it can affect when you're admitted to an honors program or specific major, as well as merit aid. So if a preference among colleges hinges on these kinds of factors, then it may make sense to apply early to have full information when it's time to make a decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you mean early action or just submitting the application early. If the former, then the benefit is that your DC will hear earlier. The downside is that if you have a good senior fall it won't be counted - that's only important if you need to show he continuation of an upward trajectory or there is some other blemish in the earlier years.

Another benefit of early action at some schools is that it gives you time to apply for additional programs. At Michigan, for example, you can't apply for the Honors program until you've been accepted, and honors admission is on a rolling basis so it's much better to be able to apply early in the cycle.

If the latter then it varies a little bit by school. For some there is no benefit. Others have earlier deadlines to be considered for merit aid (I recall Wake Forest being one of these). Others may consider applications on a rolling basis - this is most common at large state schools.

For students who have performed well while taking a rigorous course load 9-11 grades, a good fall of even straight A's barely makes a dent in your GPA at that point. Did the math and it ends up being something like a .005 bump. Our thinking is that colleges like to see that you are taking a rigorous course load senior year. Taking several AP classes, performing well and submitting fall semester grades may be a good tactic for demonstrating performance under rigor, but many students will have some record of this prior to the fall of their senior year.

Hence the second half of my sentence...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you mean early action or just submitting the application early. If the former, then the benefit is that your DC will hear earlier. The downside is that if you have a good senior fall it won't be counted - that's only important if you need to show he continuation of an upward trajectory or there is some other blemish in the earlier years.

Another benefit of early action at some schools is that it gives you time to apply for additional programs. At Michigan, for example, you can't apply for the Honors program until you've been accepted, and honors admission is on a rolling basis so it's much better to be able to apply early in the cycle.

If the latter then it varies a little bit by school. For some there is no benefit. Others have earlier deadlines to be considered for merit aid (I recall Wake Forest being one of these). Others may consider applications on a rolling basis - this is most common at large state schools.

For students who have performed well while taking a rigorous course load 9-11 grades, a good fall of even straight A's barely makes a dent in your GPA at that point. Did the math and it ends up being something like a .005 bump. Our thinking is that colleges like to see that you are taking a rigorous course load senior year. Taking several AP classes, performing well and submitting fall semester grades may be a good tactic for demonstrating performance under rigor, but many students will have some record of this prior to the fall of their senior year.

This has nothing to do with the OP's question. HS in area send first semester grades to all schools the student applied ( or intended when they asked the HS to send their transcript in hte fall), so they will see those grades regardless of when the student applied.

OP, we were told by several universities that they generally look at applications as they come in and regard later applicants as not as interested in their school as earlier applicants. Most have a start date for looking at applications, so applications received up to that point would all be considered early.

It absolutely does help with this decision. If you have a child that needs to demonstrate performance under rigor, there is a benefit to waiting until Jan/Feb to apply and skipping early action. I think a lot of schools like to see the apps coming in as early as possible, but to get "interest" points taken away if your application arrives a day or two later than someone else's? Hmmm...does that sound right to you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you mean early action or just submitting the application early. If the former, then the benefit is that your DC will hear earlier. The downside is that if you have a good senior fall it won't be counted - that's only important if you need to show he continuation of an upward trajectory or there is some other blemish in the earlier years.

Another benefit of early action at some schools is that it gives you time to apply for additional programs. At Michigan, for example, you can't apply for the Honors program until you've been accepted, and honors admission is on a rolling basis so it's much better to be able to apply early in the cycle.

If the latter then it varies a little bit by school. For some there is no benefit. Others have earlier deadlines to be considered for merit aid (I recall Wake Forest being one of these). Others may consider applications on a rolling basis - this is most common at large state schools.

For students who have performed well while taking a rigorous course load 9-11 grades, a good fall of even straight A's barely makes a dent in your GPA at that point. Did the math and it ends up being something like a .005 bump. Our thinking is that colleges like to see that you are taking a rigorous course load senior year. Taking several AP classes, performing well and submitting fall semester grades may be a good tactic for demonstrating performance under rigor, but many students will have some record of this prior to the fall of their senior year.

Hence the second half of my sentence...

Perhaps you should have been more clear about "upward trajectory". My point is that there's no way to show that via the GPA (the bump is insignificant). But thanks for the clarification.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you mean early action or just submitting the application early. If the former, then the benefit is that your DC will hear earlier. The downside is that if you have a good senior fall it won't be counted - that's only important if you need to show he continuation of an upward trajectory or there is some other blemish in the earlier years.

Another benefit of early action at some schools is that it gives you time to apply for additional programs. At Michigan, for example, you can't apply for the Honors program until you've been accepted, and honors admission is on a rolling basis so it's much better to be able to apply early in the cycle.

If the latter then it varies a little bit by school. For some there is no benefit. Others have earlier deadlines to be considered for merit aid (I recall Wake Forest being one of these). Others may consider applications on a rolling basis - this is most common at large state schools.

For students who have performed well while taking a rigorous course load 9-11 grades, a good fall of even straight A's barely makes a dent in your GPA at that point. Did the math and it ends up being something like a .005 bump. Our thinking is that colleges like to see that you are taking a rigorous course load senior year. Taking several AP classes, performing well and submitting fall semester grades may be a good tactic for demonstrating performance under rigor, but many students will have some record of this prior to the fall of their senior year.

This has nothing to do with the OP's question. HS in area send first semester grades to all schools the student applied ( or intended when they asked the HS to send their transcript in hte fall), so they will see those grades regardless of when the student applied.

OP, we were told by several universities that they generally look at applications as they come in and regard later applicants as not as interested in their school as earlier applicants. Most have a start date for looking at applications, so applications received up to that point would all be considered early.

It absolutely does help with this decision. If you have a child that needs to demonstrate performance under rigor, there is a benefit to waiting until Jan/Feb to apply and skipping early action. I think a lot of schools like to see the apps coming in as early as possible, but to get "interest" points taken away if your application arrives a day or two later than someone else's? Hmmm...does that sound right to you?

It isn't a few days, OP was indicating applying in Dec/Jan (close to dealine) instead of early Nov.

[Anonymous]

HS in area send first semester grades to all schools the student applied ( or intended when they asked the HS to send their transcript in hte fall), so they will see those grades regardless of when the student applied

Yes, but some schools will have already admitted the student. I know first semester grades are sent by the HS anyway. When applying to out of state publics it is very advantageous to apply as early as possible. Much better chance at merit aid, and rolling admissions means it does get harder to be admitted the later the application comes in. Not this way for the Va public colleges. The Va publics and the public high schools, in FCPS anyway, seem to be more in sync and wait to evaluate first semester grades.