I came across this, I was wondering the same...And I also applied 6 months ago:(.
"Universities that promote a holistic approach to applicant evaluation should be considered by students seeking...
This was posted recently. So it's not known exactly what the schedule will be. Seems logical if the placement you received will work with your work schedule, may be best to take it.
I just received an email from Samuel Merritt that my application has been through the preliminary review and to continue checking my email throughout the process, including my spam, so it looks like...