<p>Your parents will need to sign off on the ED agreement do they understand this. I’m assuming you and they know what your EFC is and some idea of how a Profile college (if your ED school is Profile) will view your family financial situation? Have you looked at the application dates for the balance of your schools and do you know which schools you will be allowed to apply considering an ED agreement. Do any of the other schools have scholarship deadlines you will miss if you apply ED? How much of your brother’s aid was “financial aid” and how much was because of his stats (e.g. scholarship aid)? Looking forward is correct, it’s a gamble. If you have to have aid above and beyond what you might qualify for in Federal aid, then you would be smart to have a school on your list that you will be accepted and you know you and your family can afford.</p>
<p>“i figure it’s not that easy or people with low income would do EDs more”</p>
<p>But they do, many successfully. No school would ever attempt to force unaffordable attendance.</p>
<p>“Do any of the other schools have scholarship deadlines you will miss if you apply ED?”</p>
<p>Why would this happen? All other apps MUST be prepared as if ED is not being attempted, in case it doesn’t work out. Applying ED does not hinder applying RD to other schools. The only time ED plays a role is after accepting the ED FA offer; then the RD apps must be withdrawn.</p>
<p>There are many schools that offer EA or rolling admissions. It is non binding, you know early in admissions game if you got accepted and usually know what if any merit they will be offering you when you get the acceptance letter. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>vonlost, I distinctly remember my older 2 having scholarship essays and things that were due right around December 1st. I don’t know when the OP would get the ED decision…the point is if the ED finaid is not adequate then theoretically the OP would have some EA or RD schools lined up, but the OP would need to keep careful track of any deadlines pertaining to those “other” schools as a fall back position. If the ED offer comes and the aid is adequate then the fall back schools are moot. Too many kids get so heavily invested in their ED school that they don’t keep track of the fall back schools and those school deadlines for scholarships etc…because of course they aren’t “thinking” about a fall back position. I’m of course not going to tell the OP not to apply ED…that’s not my decision to make…but I would tell the OP to be very, very organized around a fall back position.</p>
<p>mom, that’s a good caution I’ll try to remember to mention! :)</p>
<p>Cary, I don’t see anywhere in this thread where you confirmed that you ran the college’s Net Price Calculator-? And, have you run one of the Fafsa EFC calculators? Because, no one should go into this with a guess and a prayer. </p>
<p>Do you know what your parents “could” pay? </p>
<p>Since you haven’t named the school, we can’t offer our usual “sense” of its generosity or policies (partly based on our own experiences and party on our knowledge of other threads.) Nor do we know anything about your family’s financials. All we can offer is generalities.</p>
<p>If you have not run the NPC, do it. Don’t wait to be surprised.</p>