<p>I'm applying to:
University of Michigan
Michigan State University
Alma College
Oberlin College
Kalamazoo College
New York University
University of Southern California</p>
<p>Two of the schools I'm applying to don't have Early Action, but rather Early Decision. They're binding, and I can't do that. Though they're my top two schools, I can't quite make that commitment. I need to apply for scholarships or get financial aid before I can decide to go either school (or any of the schools for that matter). </p>
<p>Will applying Regular Decision lower my chances of acceptance? Do they dock you for not being able to commit like that?</p>
<p>In general, RD lowers your chance of acceptance, but no more so than everyone else applying RD. </p>
<p>It’s quite common to apply RD so you can compare offers. If you can’t do ED, you can’t do it, so don’t worry about it.</p>
<p>These are the requirements NYU sets out:
“If you are accepted under an Early Decision plan, you must promptly withdraw the applications submitted to other colleges and universities and make no additional applications to any other university in any country. If you are an Early Decision candidate and are seeking financial aid, you need not withdraw other applications until you have received notification about financial aid from the admitting Early Decision institution.” </p>
<p>I don’t quite understand. Does that mean I have to withdraw once I hear back about financial aid? What if the financial aid received is not sufficient enough to allow me to attend?</p>
<p>That is not the clearest set of instructions, but I would interpret it to mean that if NYU accepts you ED, but you’ve applied for FA, you don’t need to withdraw your other applications until they give you the FA package. If you decide that the package is insufficent, you probably need to decline the ED at that point. I don’t know how much you could argue about it and still keep the ED.</p>
<p>Call the school and get an explanation of exactly what the terms are and how you can appeal an insufficient award. You won’t be able to shop the award from NYU if you go ED, which may be a reason to go RD. </p>
<p>Here’s another reason to go RD to NYU - there appears to be little advantage to ED. My 2012 Princeton Best Colleges has % accepted as 38% RD, 39% ED. Why risk locking yourself in to a college through ED, when applying ED gains you nothing? It’s all in their favor, they get the lock, you get no advantage. EVERYONE should decline to apply ED to schools who do that.</p>
<p>^ If the financial aid is not sufficient, you may decline the admission offer and not withdraw from other application. However, you need to make that decision early. You would not even know if other schools would offer you better or worse financial aid as that may come much later than the deadline to response to ED admission. The consensus is, if you are relying on the financial aid and you have to compare among financial packages, ED is not for you. Nevertheless, you may look up the cost calculator for that particularly school to see whether it is affordable to you.</p>