It depends on whether the portfolio is close to being ready or not. My kid applied to some art/design schools last year. This was a big change of course for him; he only started considering art schools late in the spring of his junior year, so he had very little in the way of a portfolio by fall senior year, so had little choice but to apply RD. He was working on his portfolio up to almost the last minute for each of his schools, and the portfolio was visibly stronger for the later date schools (late February deadline) than the earlier RD schools (Jan 1.) His acceptances were in line with the strength of his portfolio (the later the better.) But my kid was an extreme example of starting the portfolio late.
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