dghazer wrote:
If you are pretty sure about what schools you would like to apply to, this is what I would do. Start working on this past years essays now. Most likely they will stay the same or at least somewhat similar. If you do this, you can easily apply to 4 schools in rd 1. This way, you will have alot of the work done, you will have thoroughly thought out your essays, and you will have more than enough time to visit schools early this fall. Also, you will likely have a interviews before rd 2, so you will have the opportunity to somewhat gauge your chances and then apply to safeties in rd 2 if necessary. If you get ahead of the game right now, you will have a much less stressful app season next year.
This is what I'm doing. I wrote some draft essays this winter. Now I've gone back and looked at them and they are dreadful, I am thinking was it really me that wrote this horrid crap? If you are starting in August, I can definitely see saving some "good" schools for R2. I think you have enough time to put together good essays for R1 and if that's the case, then I can't see any benefit to leaving it to R2. If you are happy with your essays, the only other benefit is getting an interview under your belt; you could just try and schedule the school you want the most for later if that's possible.