<p>so you apply and if you get in you HAVE to go there? what if you say no? what can they do</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure they can legally charge you for a year of tuition.</p>
<p>Below is what Columbia has for ED. You would be denied admission to other colleges if you are not released from your ED school. If you are not sure you should apply for ED. </p>
<p>According to National Association for College Admissions Counseling guidelines, “while pursuing admission under an Early Decision plan, students may apply to other institutions, but may have only one Early Decision application pending at any time.” While Columbia does not necessarily encourage the filing of both Early Decision (binding) and Early Action (non-binding) applications, 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>bennyblanco, i’m pretty sure you do understand early decision. you just dont like it :D</p>
<p>Lol, GreenDayFan, I think you pegged that one.</p>
<p>But really…yes, you do have to go there. People mention situations in which you can get out of it, but they have to be VERY extreme, and are very, very rare. I can assure you that it will not be the case for you. If you pull out <em>anyway</em>, the college will notify other colleges, and you will not be able to attend anywhere, except possibly a state school, some of which will allow you in regardless (though I wouldn’t count on waltzing over to your amazing flagship public if you live in Cal, Mich, NC, VA, etc…they probably won’t take you either.) Additionally, your counselor had to sign saying that you understood ED and would go if accepted, and thus the school will become very very angry with them. Your HS will likely fire them, and even so, the school you backed out of will be very reluctant to accept students from your HS for quite awhile. </p>
<p>Don’t back out of ED! ED is great if you know it’s the college you want to attend, and you have the money to pay for it. If ONE of those doesn’t apply…don’t do it!</p>
<p>lol that sounds a little extreme</p>
<p>then don’t do ED, its as simple as that</p>
<p>ED is pretty straight forward as when a student applies to a school early decision they are basically stating that in exchange for an early decision (admission to college) in december, february, etc instead of april, if admitted, I will commit to attend. If admitted, I will withdraw all applications to other schools, and will not make any new applications. In addition, I know that I am giving up my chance to compare financial aid packages (you have basically said money is not an issue because you will pretty much attend regardless of the package given).</p>
<p>So as others have stated, if you feel that ED is unfair, you don’t want to be locked into a decision or you don’t like the guidelines, then you should not apply ED.</p>