I remember it clearly at the time and location that my son decided to apply ED to Columbia. The deadline for EA/ED was fast approaching, and we were stuck in traffic at a railroad crossing on the way to school. He was debating with himself where should he apply: EA to MIT or ED to Columbia. In his own words, he said he did not want to regret not getting into Columbia because his own "big head" told him to apply EA to MIT. I told him that the decision was his and his alone. In the end, he was deferred by MIT and admitted to Columbia. He withdrew his MIT application.
Why he thinks he has a big head? He decided to take his SAT in the last minute, and we had to pay a fee for late registeration and drove one hour to the test center. The only practice test he took was the evening before the test date, even then, he was playing games on and off (the book stayed at the same page). A few weeks later, he texted me a picture of "1600".
He thinks that SAT and ACT tests are flawed. It does not do justice to people who receive poor scores, who are just as intelligent if not more than he is. To make the things "worse", he also took ACT as mandated by his school, he got a 36 (the science portion is 34).
It bothered him that others would assume that he spent lots of his free time studying for test. In reality, he would rather play games with friends, or play guiter in the back yard.
He is one humble and kind young man. All others are extra.
