<p>Son is considering applying Early Decision. I know one of the drawbacks is that you don't get to compare financial aid packages. However, in daughter's case, last year they offered the best, all need-based package (least amount of loans/work study, largest grant). Their Financial Aid office said that the package offered ED would be identical to the package offered RD. With that in mind, is there anything that would make applying early a bad idea? Since he only got one B (the rest A's) throughout high school, his senior-year, 1st semester grades would not bolster his application. What do you think? Would you trust that they would offer the same amount of grant money even though the applicant has committed to going there via ED? Anything else that should be considered?</p>
<p>If finances were a concern (which they are in my case), I would not allow my kids to apply ED. I think it's a mistake to assume that a school will give your student the package that you feel they need. I also would be concerned about having my student mentally locked into a dream school instead of considering several schools while knowing that finances may be important in choosing where they will go.</p>
<p>Does the school guarantee to meet 100% of need? If not, you can't compare your daughter's experience to your son's -- especially if she was a RD applicant. (What the financial aid office says is not always the same as what it does -- though the 100% need schools are far more likely to be consistent between ED/RD.) </p>
<p>If your son will be applying to the same school that his sister now attends, I think it would be worthwhile to ask the college its policy when 2 siblings attend college -- especially if both are at the same college. It's an unusual situation, but it may very well be that your total cost for the 2 of them is going to be close to the cost for one of them -- at least for the "parental contribution" part. If you income is stable and they guarantee to meet full need, you may be in the unusual circumstance of already having a pretty good idea of what they will award.</p>
<p>The school has need-blind admissions and guarantees to meet 100% of need. I can compute the EFC but my concern is that the percentage of grant money may not be as much ED as RD. My daughter received a large grant and my son's academics are a bit better so I would think his grant portion would be at least as large.</p>
<p>If the school does not dole out merit money, your assumption about a larger grant is not necessarily valid, even if he applies to the same school as your D. </p>
<p>FinAid gurus have $ brackets that they apply to folks in similar financial situations. If it is their policy that every finaid applicant is offered work study + Stafford + small loan, that is what you will be offered, regardless of ED or RD. The difference with RD is that you have the ability to compare finaid packages. If dream college offers Stafford + $2k loan (small loan), and their main competitor offers your Son a Stafford and no loan, dream college may replace small loan with grant so you don't go elsewhere.</p>
<p>The other thing to consider is whether you have a simple (W2 income and few investments), or complex (own on business and work out of house, divorced, grandmother living with your, high medical bills) financial situation. If simple, then the EFC and college website can probably give you a reasonably good estimate of the finaid package. But, if complex, then a finaid officer's professional judgement will come into play, and you can't assume that the finaid officer at your Son's college will make the same adjustments as the finaid officer at your D's.</p>
<p>also keep in mind that just because a school meets 100% demonstrated need that the need will be met with "free money". A school can give you loans (yes, loans are FA) and will still have met your need.</p>
<p>Even if you are looking for merit money, you have to be careful to read the "fine print" concerning keeping the money. College is definitely not high school, some schools have a phase in GPA requirement and grace periods, while other schools may want you to maintain the GPA off the bat in order to keep the money. IF something should happen (and things do happen) and your son loses the merit money, will the school still be an affordable option?</p>
<p>My original question was - was it reasonable to expect that an ED, strictly need-based FA package would be the same as an RD package and if it would be similar to the package offered daughter at same school (RD) in terms of grants vs. loans/work study. Not looking for merit based and finances are simple W-2. It seems that it is a unique situation because daughter's FA package has already indicated the type of need-based aid they offer, taking some of the mystery and risk out of ED.</p>
<p>I would strongly encourage you to talk to the financial aid office about their policies, as you already have an established relationship with them through your daughter. In general, 100% need schools have consistent policies with respect to financial aid -- so you would not expect to see much difference between an RD/ED package -- this is especially true if they do not give merit aid.</p>
<p>I think that you may have one of the situations where there is an exception to the rule about not applying ED if you need financial aid, because of the unique situation -- especially if your son is sure he wants to attend the same college as his sister. There are probably going to be some significant cost savings to you to have 2 kids attending the same college -- for example, if the college is near enough to reach by car, that is one shared trip instead of two trips in different directions. You already have a good idea of the financial aid policies -- so it is unlikely that there will be any big surprise. But again, your best bet is to talk to the financial aid office - they can tell you pretty specifically what their policies are.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if your daughter was accepted and your son has better stats, wouldn't you assume that he would also be accepted? In which case, why apply ED? If you can't make the assumption that their acceptances would be consistent, then can you make the assumption that their FA would be consistent?</p>
<p>He has better academic stats but very different ECs. My daughter was very varsity sports and community service oriented. My son has spent the last three summers volunteering in a research lab at the local state university and spends his free time playing and composing music.</p>
<p>At most colleges, with the exception of engineering programs, it's easier for guys to get admitted than females. That's because there are more girls applying to college, and their stats are on average higher than the guys'. This particularly is true of LACs. I'd really be surprised if your S needs an ED tip. Without any tip at all, he sounds like a strong candidate. You'll get more informed opinions by naming the school or providing more details about it, however. I'm the mother of 2 sons, both of which got merit aid to college: one at an out of state public, the other at a LAC, which is trying a variety of methods to attract more males.</p>