<p>For every school, not just Columbia. I really don't understand the whole EA/ED thing. I know it means your applying early and if accepted you have to attend the school unless you can't afford it. But I've heard people say that it's better to apply ED/EA than regular decision. They say it gives you an advantage. I'm wondering why. Will be very grateful for an explanation. :)</p>
<p>Hi WriterColumbia:</p>
<p>Schools that offer Early Decision and/or Early Action, do so because it presents an opportunity for the Universities to build their incoming Freshman class from students who strongly desire to attend their University without consideration of financial aid assistance. This allows the Universities to use slots for their incoming Freshman class from competitive students who NOT (or should not be) concerned about the over-all cost of attendance of the ED school for which they apply. For students, ED and EA allow student applicants to confirm (through their early applications) their sincere interest in attending their top choice Colleges. You are expected to apply ED to only one Institution. Generally, student applicants applying ED or EA must have GPAs, Test Scores and other statistics which are consistent with students profiles that meet the acceptance qualifications at the individual schools. In some cases, some class profile information from Universities (post application process) indicates that a percentage of students were admitted ED or EA, with statistics slightly below those of students who gained acceptance in the Regular Decision pool.
If your academic profile places you on the fence for acceptance to a School(s) of your choice (ED or EA) could mean the difference between your being accepted during the ED or EA decisions, or your admittance rejected during the Regular Decision application reviews. </p>
<p>Obviously, the advantage of applying ED or EA, is that if the applicant is accepted, he/she will avoid the uncertainty of which College/University he/she will attend and will know their chosen options by December- January of the Senior year. In SOME CASES, Universities select a greater percentage of students from the ED or EA pools (from that of the RD pool) and this is believed to be because of the College(s) preference towards students who have confirmed their interest in attending without regard for financial assist (ED). A larger percentage of students tend to apply colleges through Regular Decision, and that means that candidates are often competing against a greater number of applicants in the RD pool, (often applicants whos stats would have also been highly competitive for the ED or EA application round). </p>
<p>EA is non binding. You can decline to attend any EA school wherein youve been accepted. Only ED is binding, and provides that you are not expected to decline your ED acceptance because you were offered acceptance to the University fully understanding the commitment Early Decision dictates. Financial Aid packages are not completed until after the students January 1 filing of the FAFSA, and therefore a student must realize from the onset that they will not be able to confirm their ability to afford to attend a School wherein they were accepted ED, until at such time they file their FAFSA and their Financial Aid Awards have been received. (Refusal to attend a University under ED admittance, is only allowed in cases wherein the financial aid package prohibits your affording/attending said school). </p>
<p>In summary, (in some cases) ED and EA acceptances represent the old adage The early bird catches the worm.</p>