Is there a benefit to applying early in the pharmacy school admission cycle?

Question:

From your experience, does applying early decision to a school increase the chances of admission or make an applicant more favorable to admissions committees? Could it possibly also be more difficult?

Thank you!

Answer:
If you are applying to a very competitive school, get your application in as early as possible. These schools have the "pick of the litter" and typically they are going to fill their classes quickly with little attrition once they make their offers of admissions.

However, if you are applying to less competitive schools (and those with rolling admissions), I think there is some advantage to applying later in the cycle. The notion is that these schools ultimately lose committed applicants who end up getting into better schools. When this happens, spots open up later in the cycle which must be filled and it's often students who have applied later and not yet made decisions who benefit from the process.

Good luck.