Hey! I've been kinda lurking on the forums for a while, just reading about people's experiences with Grad schools.

Anyway, I am anxious to start applying for Fall 2008. Should I send in my application early? Will applying early help me or hurt me? Will I know sooner if a school has accepted me or not? I'm interested in applying to schools in Southern CA...Chapman being my top choice. Their 2008 application is up now, so that's why I'm asking this question now. Maybe I should just email them with questions?

I mailed each and every application at the last possible second.

It had no effect on my admissions.

That doesn't mean procrastinate...I'm just saying, all of that hullabaloo my professors said about sending ASAP or else they think you're a slacked did not prove true in my case.

Good luck!

It's just my opinion, but I would say get it in well before the deadline. Might never be an issue, but I can tell you from personal experience it could potentially bite you in the tail if you don't.
I applied to a school (I won't name because I want to apply again and who knows...) and did all my follow ups. It was received and being evaluated. Anxiously I waited to hear. Nothing. So around the time they were supposed to start announcing acceptances, I made a call to find out about fellowships and other general financial issues when I was told that my application had been "dropped" almost a month earlier. I nearly fell on the floor. When I asked why it was dropped (which I had ask 5 more times to 5 different people, cuz no one knew) I was finally given the excuse that I had been contacted for an interview and didn't get back to them. Only to find out they had simply made a mistake and dropping me was their error. “Ooops. Sorry.” None the less, all that time had passed. Mortified, I began calling around frantically to get my application pulled from the virtual garbage can. When I asked whether their mistake would have an impact, with their rolling admissions, I was reassured by a TA that it wouldn’t. A statement that was contradicted by another TA later. This situation blew and there was nothing I could do about with it being right down to the line. Granted this might have happened anytime, but if you turn your applications in early enough that might provide enough “fix” time should something go wrong. Good luck.

Thanks guys!