<p>I have a fairly good chance of acceptance into Columbia and with ED i think my chances will improve. I live in NYC and Columbia is a great choice for me.
However, if I ED Columbia I would never know if I was Harvard or Princeton worthy.</p>
<p>Does ED improve chances of admission?
How does the reputation of Columbia compare to other ives such as Harvard and Princeton?
Is it better to go to Princeton because it is US News ranked #2 and Columbia is #4?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>If you have “a fairly good chance of acceptance” then you could most likely get in regardless of RD or ED …</p>
<p>Wow, this will get you so much flame.</p>
<p>Yes-- ED improves your chances of admission. By how much, depends on the school. ED shows the school that you are interested in them and are willing to attend at whatever cost (literally and figuratively).</p>
<p>HOWEVER. Don’t apply to a school just because it’s highly ranked or some nonsense like that. And you live in the US-- how do you think the reputation of Columbia compares to those of HPY?</p>
<p>Apply to a school because you think you’d be <em>HAPPY</em> there for the next four years, not because, oh, look, it’s highly ranked and really famous. Once you’re applying to top-tier colleges, it doesn’t matter what the U.S. News says; the reputation will typically be the same. Not to mention, it shouldn’t be a large concern anyway.</p>
<p>If you’d rather go to Princeton or Harvard, why in the world would you apply ED to Columbia?</p>
<p>^Exactly.Don’t apply ED to Columbia just because you want to increase your ‘chances’ because then later you’ll be going ‘what if…?’
You should apply early to Columbia if you’re fully,absolutely sure you see yourself happy there for 4 years.And you should by now have enough research about each college to know which is a better option for you.Seems to me,your don’t know much about either college if you’re only going by rankings.</p>
<p>You probably won’t get into Columbia, and certainly not early decision. If you somehow realize that Columbia uniquely fits you, then I’d encourage you to apply ED so long as finances aren’t an issue. But as it stands, given your current attitude, you have no reason to worry about being admitted to Columbia.</p>
<p>“apply ED so long as finances aren’t an issue”</p>
<p>Why would finances be an issue? Columbia uses the Common Application, which says:
<a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf</a></p>
<p>By applying ED you lose the ability to compare FA offers, but when applying to your dream school the question is simply: can I afford it? If not, you say thanks but no thanks, and apply RD to other schools.</p>
<p>You wanna post some stats of you so we don’t have to speculate here?</p>
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<p>It’s an exceptional student who has a realistic chance of making this decision in April. If a student can see himself happy and successful at any of these three choices (ie, they “fit” him in all ways, academic and otherwise), it may be worth taking the ED boost, one of the last remaining ways for an applicant to boost their odds. </p>
<p>However, the truly HYPSM-student may be better off EAing at Y or S and waiting for RD results from H and P. But I’ve seen more kids who think they are this caliber than who actually are.</p>
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<p>Why would you need stats if OP has a “fairly good chance of acceptance” at Columbia
:rolleyes:</p>
<p>Princeton it is!</p>
<p>At the risk of bringing out the h4terz… back when I applied, SEAS had an ED acceptance rate of 60%. Not a misprint - sixty freaking percent. Those numbers quickly fell by a lot, but back then, ED arbitrage was a totally rational strategy.</p>
<p>Of course, today, the difference between 8% and 9% at CC vs wherever is nowhere near worth worrying about compared to how comfortable you felt walking around each campus and talking to people. But for a 60% shot, I’ll take my chances, thank ye :)</p>
<p>Simple answer, seems like you want to know if you could have gotten into Harvard or Princeton. As such, no ED for you.</p>
<p>Straight up, reputation, as in brand power, Columbia is not in the Big 3, that’s HYP.</p>
<p>USNews Ranking is not a good way to justify that Princeton is better than Columbia.</p>
<p>On the one hand, applying to schools based on apparent fit is incredibly stupid and counter-productive, so that’s not a good reason to apply to Princeton over Columbia. On the other hand, the very fact that you judge schools primarily based on their USNWR value means you almost certainly won’t be able to show why you’re a good fit for Columbia, so it would not be advantageous to apply ED.</p>