<p>I just submitted my ED application to Columbia yesterday! Now my parents and I are struggling through the darn CSS profile</p>
<p>I am kinda regretting applying for FA for Columbia but Columbia really is my #1 choice but my parents can’t afford to just shelf $50k a year for me :/</p>
<p>but there goes my chances at Columbia then //sigh goodbye need-blind </p>
<p>Anyway, I’ve applied to Loran (sponsored) and I’m going to apply for the U of T Book Award. </p>
<p>I’m definitely going to apply for the renewable scholarships at McGill. Don’t know if my grades are good enough though…my school doesn’t inflate marks…at all OTL</p>
<p>Congrats nebbalish! I also just submitted my Harvard application. (Of course, I’d sent in the supplement and payment two weeks ago, but earlier today was when I sent the actual Common App.)</p>
<p>@tomofboston: My parents are actually quite adamant on me attending school in the US. I wouldn’t mind the change of pace and experience. I will definitely be applying to a few of those schools you mentioned like McGill, UBC, U of T. I will see which schools I actually get accepted to and look over all the pros and cons of each school before I decide where I would like to attend. Thank you for your input!</p>
<p>No offense intended, but not just ‘thousands of dollars’ but more like “200,000”…and what kind of ‘hard work’ is going to make up that? Do you parents know the cost differential? Having taught at one of the best US schools on your list, and now a top Canadian school…I can only shake my head. Some of those aren’t even on par educationally speaking with top Canadian unis you are interested in. What change of pace or experience, exactly, are you expecting? This honestly makes no sense. But blessed are you and your family that 200k is relatively trivial, I guess.</p>
<p>@starbright: I understand what you are saying. I definitely have not ruled out attending a Canadian school and have my sights set on a couple of them as well. My parents are very aware of the frighteningly expensive costs and honestly, I think they are crazy. I’ve even tried talking them out of it, but they have told me constantly that they would not have even offered to let me take the SAT or apply to US schools if they did not believe in me. Obviously, I am feeling the pressure here. I’m tempted to just attend a Canadian school because of the costs. Thank you for your input. It really helps.</p>
<p>I’m eagerly waiting for ED decisions to come out in two weeks! </p>
<p>But my parents and I agreed that if I get into McMaster Health sciences, we’ll pull out of our ED agreement with Columbia. </p>
<p>Even if I get into Columbia ED, I’m still going to apply to Canadian schools, albeit a bit more aggresively, not that Columbia is “my backup”. </p>
<p>Of course, I’m getting ahead of myself. 99.9% I’m going to be rejected, so it’s time to start working on those supp apps for Mcmaster and Queens! :)</p>
<p>^ Agreed. Are you sure you want to take that risk? I don’t know if they’d even allow you to get out of the ED agreement, unless you can prove that you have significant financial difficulties that would prevent you from attending.</p>
<p>nebbalish, if you get in Early Decision, you are required to cancel any pending applications. You will not be able to wait and see where else you get accepted. Early Decision is a commitment to attend if accepted. What part of that agreement did you not understand?</p>
<p>@LastCall, calgirl, alwaysamom
Okay before anybody pikes me, here is my story:</p>
<p>If I got accepted ED into Columbia, I was looking forward to nixing the rest of my applications and jump onto the next train to NYC. But my parents have researched the ED agreement on a lot of online Chinese-Canadian communities and returned with the conclusion that the ED agreement is only valid for American schools. AKA if I get accepted, I can’t apply to any other American universities. But apparently, Canadian schools are still game. </p>
<p>Now, all I have is my parents’ word on this. I’m still pretty against the idea as well. Like LastCall, I thought it was “somewhat unethical” as well. But right now, I can only listen to my parents.</p>
<p>If anybody knows any concrete information otherwise, I would be glad to hear it! Honestly, I don’t even want to apply to any other schools if Columbia accepts me. It’s my #1 choice and I wouldn’t want to give it up for anything, not even HSci.</p>
<p>“If you are admitted under the Early Decision program, you are obligated to accept Columbia’s offer of admission. Once you accept Columbia’s offer of admission, you may file no further college applications and must withdraw any other applications that have already been submitted. Only students who (after consultation with the Financial Aid Office) cite financial reasons for not attending will be released from the Early Decision agreement.”</p>
<p>If you can’t afford Columbia even after they meet 100% of your need then you can turn down their offer and apply elsewhere. What you cannot do is apply to other schools after the ED decision is released and see where you get in, then decide from there.</p>
<p>Your parents are mistaken. All applications, both U.S. and Canadian, must be withdrawn. It’s absolutely unethical and not a good way for you to be starting your college career. Possibly your parents didn’t clearly understand but you should explain to them that you cannot do this.</p>
<p>ED agreement can only be applied to schools in the USA for the simple reason that it is impossible for an ED school to assure a F-1 student visa for any international student. Every year several US student visas have been rejected for students from many countries for various reasons.</p>
<p>An international student cannot take a visa risk and jeopardize his admission offers from other top schools in UK, Canada and other countries. He can keep his options at a non-USA school while holding to an ED choice school. However, the student should honor the ED agreement and withdraw applications from other US schools. </p>
<p>There is nothing unethical or illegal in this path. Canada, probably has a relaxed visa relationship with the USA but I do not think the ED agreement will act any differently for Canada and it will stay the same for all international applicants.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of any Canadian student not being able to attend an American college due to a visa issue.</p>
<p>I think we’re actually in agreement here. nebbalish is certainly allowed to apply to other schools but if s/he is admitted by Columbia via ED s/he is obligated to withdraw all of his/her other applications or not file them in the first place. If s/he has other offers at that time s/he is obligated to turn them down. You clearly understand this.</p>
<p>However, nebbalish intends on applying to another school and attending that school instead of Columbia if s/he is admitted to both. This is basically treating ED like RD, as if there was no ED agreement. S/he wants to see both results and if s/he is admitted to both, s/he will weigh the offers and decide from there. That is clearly and unarguably forsaking the ED agreement. It’s taking advantage of Columbia’s lower selectivity in ED (they assume they’ll get 100% yield on offers so it’s less random than RD) while not giving up the flexibility in selection that’s required to get it.</p>
<p>Desertfox, you, too, are mistaken. The E.D. agreement is the same for Canadian students applying to U.S. schools as it is for American students, and the implications and responsibilities are the same. There is no special addendum which would allow Canadians to keep other applications open after an E.D. acceptance. Nebbalish, and all Canadian applicants, are certainly able to apply to other schools, just as American applicants are able to, but when the E.D. acceptance comes, they all must withdraw all other applications, whether in the U.S. or in Canada. We have lived in both countries, we have children who have attended college in both countries, we have one who applied and was accepted E.D., and I, and many friends have taught at colleges in both countries, as well as participated in the administrative decisions surrounding admissions. The rules and expectations are the same. If they weren’t, then schools would not permit Canadian students to apply E.D. If a Canadian student wants the certainty of a Canadian acceptance, in hand, then they shouldn’t be applying E.D.</p>
<p>I thought I had made it clear. Alwaysamom - you are only giving experience from your side having lived in Canada and the US. However, things are very different for other international applicants in other parts of the world in dealing with ED offers.</p>
<p>Even though this is a Canadian thread, please put yourself in an International student shoes (think outside of US/Canada box) and see the repercussions of a denied visa ( in the last few years there were many students who were denied US visas in Asia & in the Middle east & many of them were ED applicants). If an international student were to turn down other good offers from other parts of the world (UK, Australia & Canada) just because of the ED agreement & get stuck in the wrong side of the US visa application, they will be doomed. A Canadian or an American cannot understand the student visa issues of other international applicants. ED agreement is not a contract and it cannot force them to jeopardize other student opportunities available outside of the US. </p>
<p>Several of my Asian & Middle eastern classmates are not going to turn down offers from UK & Canada while holding to their ED choice. However they will drop other US offers. If they succeed in getting a US visa, it is very obvious that they will go to their dream ED school.</p>