<p>I wanted some opinions from people out there for a current junior. I wanted and had always planned to apply ED (binding) to my top choice school. But should I do it if I can not afford the schools high cost? I am expecting aid, scholarships etc( A bit from outside sources and more from the school). But is that a wise choice?
I'm scared that i'll get older with tons of debt, or I could take the chance and pray for money to cover most of the cost.</p>
<p>Black Rose…what school? There is a HUGE difference between EA which is NOT binding and ED which is.</p>
<p>Read some of the other threads from December and January here about kids who got accepted ED and can’t afford to attend because the financial aid package wasn’t sufficient.</p>
<p>EA is not binding. ED is binding, but you can be released from an ED acceptance if you cannot afford to attend. Still…if you think that is in the realm of possibility…do NOT apply ED…just don’t. </p>
<p>Here is the rub…you will get your ED acceptance and financial aid estimate…and you will have to make a quick decision. You will have ONLY ONE financial aid offer…no comparisons to see if other schools are less costly for you…or maybe provide better aid. If you decline the offer, you might find out in the end that it was the BEST offer you got…but it will be too late. If you accept the offer, you’ll never know if any other school might have offered you a better financial deal.</p>
<p>Early decision, in my opinion, is risky unless you are POSITIVE your family will be able to pay their family contribution AND the school meets full need for ALL accepted students.</p>
<p>Early action is a safer bet…you get an early acceptance but you also can wait and see what other acceptances and financial aid offers trickle in.</p>
<p>You mention a number of other schools on other threads…Brown, NEU. Northeastern, I think, is early ACTION…Brown is early DECISION.</p>
<p>^
The school I want to apply to early is NEU (northeastern university). Which you just stated as EA, the school site says “Early-Action Decision” which seems a bit confusing. </p>
<p>I looked up what you told me to and could not find much…perhaps I am searching the wrong key words.</p>
<p>^__^
Okay, so I just went to a different part of the sight and saw the words
“Early Action” on the actual apply page. So i’m supposing that that is the right one.</p>
<p>Is this the type of question you would email an admissions officer about? Because the website says different things…</p>
<p>Thumper is right, NEU offers Early Action (non-binding), not early decision. IIRC, they require both the FAFSA and Profile for financial aid. If you haven’t already estimated your family’s contribution under each method, you should probably head over to the College Board website and do so…or this would be a great time for your folks to start learning how FA works if you’re their first one through!</p>
<p>There is a Northeastern forum here, look under the Colleges category on the left.</p>
<p>1) Discuss with your parents how much they are willing to spend each year on college.</p>
<p>2) Do not let the prospect of an EA acceptance distract you from applying to some financial safety schools that have early deadlines for merit scholarships.</p>
<p>3) Run some EFC calculators to find out what your EFC might be.</p>
<p>4) Understand that MOST schools do not meet need and do NOT have much **free aid **to give.</p>
<p>If this student is PLANNING to apply EA, then he/she must be a junior. It’s way too late to apply EA to Northeastern this year. That deadline is LONG past.</p>
<p>If you are a junior, do the best you can do on the SAT and get the best possible grades. NEU also offers merit aid…you want to be in a position to be considered for that as well.</p>
<p>^
Oh, sorry. I should have put that in my initial post, I am a junior. I am asking this because of what I plan to do next year.</p>
<p>I’m taking all the classes I can to make myself a competitive student so that I can get into the school with a lot of merit. I know that this school does not provide 100% of a persons needed aid. So yah, I’m working hard on the Sat’s (Taken them two times already) and taking the hardest classes offered in my school.</p>
<p>If your parents aren’t on top of the financial aid stuff, warn them that next year they’re going to need to complete (or at least very closely estimate) their 2011 taxes as early as possible. Financial aid deadlines are really early! Northeastern will give EA accepted students an estimate of their financial aid based on a very early filing of the CSS Profile (by December 1, so estimating 2011 income and taxes even before the year is over!) That’s not a hard deadline (their “real” priority deadline is Feb 15) but if you want an early estimate when you get your offer of admission, that will be what you need to do. GL!</p>
<p>Also (but not the OP’s EA case), ED needing financial aid is better suited for families with regular, steady income; it’s more risky, e.g., for the self-employed with big income swings.</p>
