Should I apply Restrictive Early Action to Harvard or Early Decision to Columbia?

Apply Early Decision to Columbia only if Columbia is clearly your first-choice school and you would enroll if admitted with an affordable aid package; otherwise, Harvard’s Restrictive Early Action preserves more choice. Columbia ED is binding, meaning an admitted student is expected to withdraw applications to other colleges and enroll. Harvard REA is nonbinding, so an admission does not require a commitment.

You retain the ability to apply broadly in the regular round and make a final decision in the spring.

Columbia ED asks you to make the choice before knowing what other admission and aid offers you might receive. Before applying ED, use Columbia’s net price calculator, discuss the expected family contribution with your family, and make sure you would not regret giving up Harvard and other outcomes.

Harvard REA makes sense when Harvard is a top contender but you are still genuinely deciding among several schools or need to compare costs. Columbia ED makes sense when your preference is settled enough that an early Columbia acceptance would end the process happily.