<p>"If you feel like your financial aid package comes $10,000 short of meeting your need and the college shows you how to get a loan for those $10,000, attendance is possible and the clause in the ED contract does not apply."</p>
<p>Which schools say they interpret the regulation this way? I haven't heard of a single case of this interpretation; it's always been the student's decision.</p>
<p>"I also met a girl during Custom's Week who told me that she would have to transfer after her freshman year because her family would not be able to afford Bryn Mawr for 4 years. And she is not the only one I know who transferred at least partly due to finances."</p>
<p>This is unfortunate, but has nothing to do with ED. The same thing happens too often with RD.</p>
<p>
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This is unfortunate, but has nothing to do with ED. The same thing happens too often with RD.
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Students find themselves in unfortunate situations for a variety of reasons, but some ED applicants could have avoided this particular problem. ED applicants usually know that they won't be able to compare financial aid offers, but I believe that many do not understand the full implications at the time they decide to apply ED. What do you do when you get a suboptimal but manageable (with significant loans) financial aid offer from your reach school? If you withdrew and then found out that your RD schools wouldn't give you more financial aid either, you would have foregone a big opportunity. And thanks to all the marketing efforts of the college, an ED applicant is probably very hyped up about the ED school when decisions come out. I wouldn't be surprised if some applicants made decisions in that situation that they regret a few months later.</p>
<p>I'm agreeing with Barium about ED. Good example.</p>
<p>I've had an amazing experience with fin aid, but cost is a huge part of college... And if you can compare aid packages or bargain, all the better. I had a meeting with finaid before accepting BMC and I wasn't going to mention what other schools gave me, but they asked and were impressed. I can't say if that affected my package at all, but it probably didn't hurt. ED applicants don't have that chance.</p>
<p>I'm sure that many schools do it and none of them would advertise it. I don't think BMC is crazy sneaky or out for my money, but colleges do enjoy profit.</p>
<p>Aaand even though they say it's easy to break the ED contract, I would want to talk to someone that has experience without before assuming it's easy to do. Again, I'm probably being overly suspicious, but it's an important decision and a lot of money.</p>