<p>I was very excited to be accepted via EA by The University of Chicago. However, due to finances, my parents are encouraging me to wait until Spring to compare with a couple of my safeties the financial aid offer. I would prefer to accept as soon as possible. Any suggestions regarding either when I should accept, or how to improve my financial situation would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>My view is that if the financial aid offer is sufficient (even if it ends up not being the “best” strictly speaking), and if UChicago is your first choice, then accept. One good thing about deciding early is you are more likely to get the dorm / house you want. All the best and good luck.</p>
<p>I applied to Michigan as a safety EA as well. Do you think Chicago could be persuaded to change their offer slightly if I get a strong offer from there?</p>
<p>Maybe. Certainly its worth a try. Perhaps if they know you’re this close to sending in your deposit (holds up index finger and thumb), they’ll up your FA offer a couple or few thousand to close the deal. If I was your parent, I would make the effort (sorry dad and mom). I think UChicago accepted you because they want you to matriculate, so I believe they’ll work with you if they can. At the very least they’ll probably go back to your FA offer and make sure they didn’t short change you in any way.</p>
<p>Having said the above, as a sort of a rule the top privates only respond to offers from other top privates. For example, if you got $x more from Brown or Northwestern or Duke, there may be a response. But I don’t know this for sure. </p>