Small Pool with a late application= Interview with early application?

[About28]

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I applied real late and I'm in the small pool at more schools than I can count. Had I applied earlier would those have turned into interviews, generally speaking?

 

[CarlosDanger]

How do you know you're in a small pool? There's only 1 or 2 schools that I know of that explicitly tell you you're in a smaller pool of applicants to be considered for an interview. Usually its just an ii, a hold, or silence. If you had applied earlier, you would be competing against fewer people for interview spots, so it's possible, even probable that you're right, assuming you have a good app. I think everyone on here would tell you the easiest thing you can do to help yourself is to apply early.

 

[About28]

How do you know you're in a small pool? There's only 1 or 2 schools that I know of that explicitly tell you you're in a smaller pool of applicants to be considered for an interview. Usually its just an ii, a hold, or silence. If you had applied earlier, you would be competing against fewer people for interview spots, so it's possible, even probable that you're right, assuming you have a good app. I think everyone on here would tell you that the easiest thing you can do to help yourself is to apply early.

First off thats an awesome username. Second, I just kind of simplified, for the sake of brevity, all the different terminology schools use to say small pool. So one of them says my app was reviewed and will be rereviewed, one says I'm on some sort of pre-interview waitlist and others word it differently.

 

[Stoptheclot]

The hard answer, I think is yes, it would've increased the likelihood of an interview.
The soft answer is that it totally depends on your application and the competitive nature of the small pool that you're in. In addition to finding students with great metrics, schools will always look to find students that match their missions/vision statement - often seen in personal statements, ECs, LoEs.... and then the challenge is trying to stand out in a small pool that sometimes isn't so "small."

 

[CarlosDanger]

First off thats an awesome username. Second, I just kind of simplified, for the sake of brevity, all the different terminology schools use to say small pool. So one of them says my app was reviewed and will be rereviewed, one says I'm on some sort of pre-interview waitlist and others word it differently.

Gotcha. I only asked because many times if your app has been reviewed and you weren't given an ii, it may as well be a rejection. In contrast, at RFU, you can actually be small pooled which means you have a high chance to get an ii.

If you apply really early and are put on hold after review you can sometimes be re-reviewed later in the cycle and given in ii. But, my gut feeling is that if you applied very late, were reviewed, and weren't offered an interview, its more than likely an implicit rejection. My advice would be to try to do a few things to improve your app, and re-apply early this summer or the cycle after. As a re-applicant, it can be difficult to get an interview if nothing about your app has changed but you were rejected the previous cycle. If you have a really great app and your only mistake was bad timing, you may be ok without making any additional improvements. The problem is, the school will get the exact same app you sent them last year and will wonder why they should accept you this time.

 

[theseeker4]

I applied real late and I'm in the small pool at more schools than I can count. Had I applied earlier would those have turned into interviews, generally speaking?

There is a reason everyone says to apply as early as you can, and if you can't, it might be best to wait for the next cycle. So yes, likely the timing of your application is the difference between you having interviews and not if your application is otherwise good. Good luck getting in this cycle, and if you don't, make sure you apply early June to maximize your chances.

 

[About28]

As a re-applicant, it can be difficult to get an interview if nothing about your app has changed but you were rejected the previous cycle. If you have a really great app and your only mistake was bad timing, you may be ok without making any additional improvements. The problem is, the school will get the exact same app you sent them last year and will wonder why they should accept you this time.

Yeah I've thought a lot about that. I got lucky enough to add a decent amount of stuff to my application after I already applied so as long as I sell myself right I think I'll be in decent shape. I'm also applying to a bunch of places for the first time next cycle so that'll help a bit too.

There is a reason everyone says to apply as early as you can, and if you can't, it might be best to wait for the next cycle. So yes, likely the timing of your application is the difference between you having interviews and not if your application is otherwise good. Good luck getting in this cycle, and if you don't, make sure you apply early June to maximize your chances.

I had quite a few people look at my application and they all seemed surprised at my lack of success this cycle, so I don't think there are any red flags. I plan on submitting my application the minute it opens on June 1st, should it come to that. As for this cycle I wasn't aware of the importance of timing until late October (I'm kinda new here)