Accepted ED but not offered enough financial aid??

Parents Forum
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<p>i don't understand this thread. plain and simple, if you cannot afford a school, don't apply ED.
it's like nearly impossible to get out of ED and many schools still make you pay first semester's tuition.
if you cannot afford it, get out NOW!!!</p>

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<p>Let me reword this...the student knows what the sticker price on the college is...no discounts. If financial aid is a significant concern, they should not be applying ED. If the OP needs to have significant aid to make the cost their family is paying a reasonable one, then they need to be able to compare financial aid offers...and not because they back out of the ED contract. This OP seems to want to have the license to back out on this contract while keeping all other applications intact...or that is what I am reading. To me, that flies in the face of what ED is all about...an application to the number one school that you WILL attend if accepted.</p>

<p>So...let me say it again a different way...if the FAMILY'S college costs is paramount...don't apply ED. Apply to a variety of schools RD and compare offers. It's the right way to do it.</p>

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<p>I don't know any school that will FORCE you to attend or take legal action for breaking ED. However, when you are accepted ED, it is assumed that you are going to attend the school, and a list does go out with those accepted under that admissions policy. If you opt out of ED, it is a pain in the neck dealing with the possible ramifications. You see, you are not necessarily notified that you are dropped from consideration from other schools. You just are. So you have to contact every single other school and let them know the situation. This at the height of the admissions frenzy. Colleges hate those who break ED agreements and are not exactly on the ball to correct your status. You may need letters from the ED school, your counselor, as well as yourself, explaining the situation. Your biggest problem is not your ED school forcing you to attend, but your others schools continuing to consider you after you have broken an ED agreement. </p>

<p>Your ED offer may well be your best offer also It's not as though you can compare. That is why it is not usually a good idea to go ED if you need financial aid. There is a risk you take in exchange for the extra consideration you get in applying ED.</p>

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<p>"it's like nearly impossible to get out of ED and many schools still make you pay first semester's tuition."</p>

<p>This must be a joke. There are no schools that make you pay first semester's tuition.</p>

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<p>"Let me reword this...the student knows what the sticker price on the college is...no discounts. If financial aid is a significant concern, they should not be applying ED."</p>

<p>So students from well-off families get to apply early, but poor people don't .</p>

<p>Hmmmm.</p>

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<p>Sondosia, will you really go to Northwestern if you can afford it? Or do you want to compare financial aid packages?</p>

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<p>
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How many kids do this? In reading other posts, this appears to be a student who is fully aware of the situation now, yet anxiously awaits the ED decision having applied to other schools that offer better aid. Will schools go easier given the economy or expect that this will be just another casulty of the downturn?

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<p>Every year, I think there is at least one thread about this subject, no fail.</p>

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<p>"So students from well-off families get to apply early, but poor people don't ."</p>

<p>Yes, that's exactly right, and also is why some colleges have dropped ED.</p>

<p>There also are plenty of middle class people who won't apply ED because they need to compare financial aid or merit aid packages. That's why ED was never a consideration for my kids.</p>

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<p>dstark, I don't think it's fair that ED favors those not needing aid and I personally wish all schools would drop it. Yet I think ED is often the first time a teen has signed a contract and has to understand contractual obligations and the consequences of breaking one.</p>

<p>ED was a very hard decision for my kids. They let some dreams go to put their efforts and honor behind another. Watching others making a mockery of it is hard.</p>

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<p>There is no mockery. A student has incomplete information. The student does not know how much the school is going to cost. A student doesn't know how much a school is going to cost until that student sees the financial aid package. If the financial aid package comes up short, the student doesn't have to go to that school.</p>

<p>There isn't a binding contract really. How could a student sign a binding contract without knowing the cost of that contract? </p>

<p>Whether that is the best way to apply to schools is another question.</p>

<p>If money is really important, applying to multiple schools and comparing financial aid offers makes more sense to me than applying early decision.</p>

<p>My point is though, no, a student isn't stuck with an ed acceptance.</p>

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<p>I agrree with dstark. I also think that the many, many low to moderate income students who have had successful and happy ED experiences are lucky they didn't listen to the prevailing wisdom here. I know it's not meant to, but it takes opportunities away that the students might have benefited from.</p>

<p>I'll repeat what I said before--many ED schools have very transparent FA policies. They follow guidelines that can be replicated by using online calculators. If a family decides that the FA suggested by these is doable for them, they may, in a reasonable decision, decide that they don't need to compare offers; they may be willing to go with what they feel they can expect from the ED school. Again, as I said before, I have successfully foretold the amount of aid my S has gotten from his school, because its policies are transparent and reasonable.</p>

<p>If those things are in place--reasonable expectation of what the aid will be, and a willingness to forego the comparison process for a better deal, then ED is perfectly reasonable at any income level, and saying different is a disservice to families who might, with open eyes, benefit.</p>

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<p>You're correct, they are not stuck. But chances are the peer colleges of the one they shafted will not accept them, which I agree with.</p>

<p>17/18 is old enough to understand the trade offs here. It's simple: if money matters, don't apply ED. I know that was made very clear to my kids by their different schools. It's also clear to any kid reading and asking questions here on CC. For the OP, who's alive and well and posting tonight on threads other than this one, there is time to have addressed any misunderstanding. What if NU reads these boards or another school she's applying to? How should they look upon the candidacy?</p>

<p>Are you suggesting it's acceptable for a kid who does understand to apply ED hoping to have it both ways?</p>

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<p>"Are you suggesting it's acceptable for a kid who does understand to apply ED hoping to have it both ways?"</p>

<p>hmom5, I'm not making any moral judgments.</p>

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<p>I fully agree with this. Some ED schools have very transparent aid policies and it is quite easy to figure out a very close estimate of the amount of aid you are likely to receive. If you are applying to such a school, that is fine.</p>

<p>I'm going to stick my neck out here and say...I don't believe NU is one of those schools. AND this OP clearly has no idea of an estimate of the financial aid she/he might receive. That being the case...I'll say...for this OP with this college...with the information posted here (what if I don't get enough aid??), I will say...ED at NU probably isn't a good idea.</p>

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<p>What are you saying saying? This is a healthy debate. What should we expect of 17/18 year olds when it comes to ED? When we're talking about a school at the level of NU, is it reasonable to expect that an applicant that has what it takes to get in can comprehend the commitment they've made?</p>

<p>Thumper, isn't there an average percentage need met stat for every college? If it's not 100% and you need aid, what should the family conclude?</p>

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<p>hmom5, I think I've been pretty clear. ;)</p>

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<p>If you want or need aid, you are taking a risk applying ED. If it is worth that risk to you, go right on ahead and do it. For some situations, it is a calculated risk. There are some schools that are more predicatable than others in terms of aid given, and they do not give loans or self help. If your family financial situation is straight forward, and you have gone through the calculators so you have a good idea of what to expect, and you are willing to take that chance, going ED is the way to go. But to apply ED to a school with the idea that you are just going to renege if the fin aid package is not palatable without getting a good handle of the risks and procedures you need to undergo in that case is foolhardy. You can get burned badly going ED.</p>

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<p>My S has a clear favorite school that he wanted to apply to ED. We discussed our family's need to compare aid packages and that this would not be possible if he applied ED. He gave up the chance of better odds at his favorite school because we felt it would be unethical to sign a statement agreeing to withdraw other applications and then intentionally not doing so. It's not a matter of whether something is legal or not. It's a matter of whether you agree to something and then knowingly go back on your word. I think this thread is related to the "lie, cheat, steal thread" somewhere else on this board.</p>

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<p>Yes, I guess you have but I really wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt:)</p>

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<p>Well...I would conclude that the "average" is below 100% and therefore I cannot predict that my aid will be met as fully as I might want it to be. I would not apply ED in this case.</p>

<p>But that is my opinion only.</p>