Applying to all my top schools in R1 was well worth it. I could not have handled waiting any longer. Sure my essays got better over time, but you can also be strategic about how you work on your applications.
Haas was my last choice (hmmm, I wonder if that's why they waitlisted me...), so I started on those applications first. I definitely improved my voice and refined my story through those essays, but I felt more than warmed up to get working on my other applications. Since I started early I was also able to come back with fresh eyes to essays I'd drafted a month earlier.
As my fellow Yalie, lb2015, points out, you could definitely be successful with either strategy. I'll just add that you must have a strategy (any strategy!) that rounds out the ENTIRE application season. You definitely don't want to bank on R3, so if you wait on your top programs until R2, you should still apply R1 to great schools that would make you happy.
Haas was my last choice (hmmm, I wonder if that's why they waitlisted me...), so I started on those applications first. I definitely improved my voice and refined my story through those essays, but I felt more than warmed up to get working on my other applications. Since I started early I was also able to come back with fresh eyes to essays I'd drafted a month earlier.
As my fellow Yalie, lb2015, points out, you could definitely be successful with either strategy. I'll just add that you must have a strategy (any strategy!) that rounds out the ENTIRE application season. You definitely don't want to bank on R3, so if you wait on your top programs until R2, you should still apply R1 to great schools that would make you happy.