<p>“Why else would rational students freely and willingly agree to restrict their choice (of enrollment, if accepted) to one school only?”</p>
<p>Umm…because it is their first choice? You just made my argument for me. Thanks.</p>
<p>Also, the Times data is five years old. Secondly, that is only for students who apply to both schools. There are many Columbia admits who don’t apply to Stanford. This is not at all surprising because Stanford and Columbia are on opposite coasts and offer completely different experiences…</p>
<p>And no, SAT scores are not the only metric. I’m merely pointing out your ridiculous assertion that people apply to Columbia ED merely because they don’t have a “reasonable chance” of being admitted to a school like Stanford. This is simply not true.</p>