Early Decision: Columbia or Brown?

Applying to College
1

<p>I know I've never posted before, but I might as well start off my first post here with a bit of a dilemma I'm currently in. If I'm posting this in the wrong board, my apologies. I am a senior in high school currently going through the college application process and basically Columbia is my dream school. If I could go to school anywhere in the world, it would have to be Columbia and I would love to apply ED there. However, my second choice would probably be Brown. My brother currently attends Brown and my mother is pretty confident I could get in, but says Columbia would be a lot riskier and my chances of getting into Brown regular if I don't get into Columbia ED are a lot lower. So do I apply to Columbia ED and risk not getting accepted to Columbia or Brown, or do I apply to Brown ED with a better chance of getting in (20% accepted ED vs 8% regular, plus the fact that I have family there) and potentially miss out on my dream of going to Columbia? </p>

<p>I am a Caucasian male and from a fairly well-off family (we're not getting any financial aid). Like I said my brother currently attends Brown University. </p>

<p>ACT: 31
GPA: 3.9
Senior year courses (IB Diploma candidate):
IB Spanish V HL
IB History of the Americas HL
IB English HL
IB Biology HL
IB Mathematical Studies SL
Journalism
IB Theory of Knowledge
(Due to scheduling conflicts beyond my control I am also self-studying for the SL Psychology exam outside of school) </p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Editor in Chief of the school newspaper (this practically like a full-time job)
Forensics team (state finalist)
Varsity tennis team
Building houses for Habitat for Humanity every week
Canvassing and phone banking for political campaigns
Registering people to vote in poorer areas of my town
Written screenplays for student films entered in local competitions
Written short pieces for my school's Literary Magazine</p>

<p>Other:
Spent three weeks in Spain over the summer for a Global Business/Spanish program through Brown University
Spent two weeks at Boston University the summer before that and took classes in Journalism and Persuasive Writing
Two fantastic letters of recommendation from my IB Extended Essay advisor/Psychology teacher who I have known for years and the advisor of my school newspaper</p>

2

<p>The acceptance rates at both schools are so low I would ordinarily call it a toss-up, but the fact that you have a brother there might improve your odds at Brown…It is hard to quantify how much, but I would go with Brown.
What does Columbia have that Brown doesn’t? Is it the location? Providence is pretty close to Boston and NY so you can visit them easily, though it is not the same as living there if that is what you want…</p>

3

<p>Columbia ACT Middle 50%: 32-35
Brown ACT Middle 50%: 29-33</p>

<p>As a wealthy ORM (with no legacy), don’t expect to get into Columbia with an ACT score in the bottom 25%. I think you are much more likely to get into brown, though it still is possible you’re accepted to columbia.</p>

<p>Of course, if you really favor columbia over brown (and you see yourself regretting the decision of ED’ing to brown in 10 years), ED to your dream school.</p>

4

<p>ED is inappropriate if you do not have a clear first choice, or you need to compare financial aid offers.</p>

<p>Be careful with acceptance rates, as they can be skewed by strength of applicant pools, or whether the ED applicant pool is full of legacies, recruited athletes, etc…</p>

<p>Columbia has a core curriculum, while Brown has no breadth requirements at all. This is a fairly significant academic difference between the two schools.</p>

5

<p>I have read elsewhere that Brown ED does not help that much?..</p>

6

<p>“ED is inappropriate if you do not have a clear first choice.”</p>

<p>I don’t agree with this position. If you have two clear first choices, both of which would make you equally happy, why wouldn’t you pick one and apply ED, assuming financial aid isn’t at issue? At some schools (not all), applying ED can give you an advantage. Why throw that away, just because there’s another school you’d be equally happy with? And think of the reduction in stress when you’re not spending winter break doing 10 more applications and then waiting around until April to find out what’s going on! </p>

<p>I’d agree with this statement only if the applicant isn’t reasonably sure about what they want, has a diverse list of schools, and needed more time to think about their options.</p>