Columbia University sent out an email a few hours ago informing its ED candidates that they will be receiving an admissions decision by both email and snail mail on Thursday, rather than next Monday as promised.
Several students on the College Confidential website, the chat board for future CEOs (if accepted to the Ivy's) and serial killers (if forced to attend their State Us), have figured out how to find out the decision a few days early.
By email: Change the calendar on your computer; trick it into thinking that it's Friday.
By snail mail: Call FedEx. Find out if Columbia has sent you a package (if they haven't, they probably sent a regular letter, which means you were denied or deferred).
The Neurotic Parent Institute believes that the student who figured out how to trick his or her computer into delivering an email on an earlier date deserves to be admitted to Columbia. The student who came up with the much simpler plan of calling FedEx already knows how to work the system and does not need to go to college.