<p>Silverturtle is right, at least for a lot of schools. I made sure of this because I plan on applying ED to Columbia, and EA to backups and perhaps uChicago. I haven’t seen any (I guess Brown is one according to past posts) schools that don’t allow it. </p>
<p>Columbia’s application clearly states: According to National Association for College
Admission Counseling guidelines, students may
apply to other institutions, but may have only one
Early Decision application pending at any time.
While Columbia does not encourage the filing of
Early Decision (binding) application to Columbia
and Early Action (non-binding) applications to
other colleges, we do not prohibit candidates
from doing so. However, candidates should be
aware that Columbia’s Early Decision program is
a binding agreement and a candidate will be
expected to enroll, regardless of any pending
applications (early or otherwise)."</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/sites/admissions/files/webfm/firstyearapp.pdf[/url]”>http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/sites/admissions/files/webfm/firstyearapp.pdf</a>
it’s on page 4</p>