As the saying goes, the early bird catches the worm. And that also applies to submitting college applications. With all the technology and data available today, colleges can tap into submission timing. They date and time stamp your application. Submitting your application much earlier than set deadlines indicates to them that you have sincere interest in attending their institution. That interest then plays into admissions decisions. As to the best time to submit your college applications, while specific deadline dates hinge on the type of application you are submitting – early action, early decision or regular decision – we recommend to our students that all applications, regardless of type, be submitted no later than the end of September or early October. Our students actually aim to submit some, if not all, of their college applications at the end of summer before school starts.
Keep in mind that early action and early decision deadlines are typically around November 1st, with some later and a few earlier. So you need to know the specific application deadlines for each school to which you are applying. But if you are diligent and do your work, you won’t have to stress about those deadlines at all because you will have submitted your applications long before they arrive.