Is it advisable to apply early?

It is certainly a good idea, assuming that you know which school you really want to attend, that you don’t need your first-semester grades to help your admission chances, and that you will not need to compare financial aid packages with what may be offered by other schools. Many schools find the early pool of applicants to be strong and motivated, and therefore they tend to fill up a large percentage of slots with early applicants, making the regular decision pool even more competitive. It is stressful, and is only recommended if all of the above works for you. If you apply early decision and you get in, your process is happily concluded (although often you do have to send in the other applications before you hear from your first-choice school.) If you apply early action, you can still apply regular decision and compare packages in the spring.