<p>All of those signatures have been required for at least the past decade, which is as long as I’ve been following ED threads like this on various college boards.</p>
<p>Could the rules about signatures vary by school? Is there just one place to indicate ED or is it part of each school’s Common App supplement? </p>
<p>I’m positive that when my son applied, he didn’t need my signature or his GC’s to do so.</p>
<p>kdmom, here’s the link for the Common App forms download <a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/DownloadForms.aspx[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/DownloadForms.aspx</a> The main application has a checkbox where the applicant indicates their Decision plan, choosing from RD, ED, EA, Rolling, ED II, etc etc. That might be what you’re thinking of. The signature page for ED is a separate Common App form.</p>
<p>A minor can’t sign a legally binding contract. I’d think that just having the student sign and no adults sign would give lots of wriggle room for getting out of the ED commitment.</p>
<p>I would think that application (student signature only) would not be considered since it would be incomplete.</p>
<p>ED is an honor system, with consequences for reneging, but “legally” doesn’t apply.</p>
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<p>My son applied ED last year w/ common app, was accepted, and is (gasp!) actually attending.</p>
<p>I never signed anything other than the tuition check…sigh.</p>
<p>But if it was another situation, like the student is depending on FA but didn’t get enough, and so is declining the ED acceptance, the high school shouldn’t be blacklisted…</p>
<p>^ Correct, it wouldn’t be. Schools get blacklisted when the college counselor breaks a rule; I have seen it happen.</p>
<p>And in that case, the high school isn’t blacklisted. But you have to demonstrate that you cannot afford to attend with the aid package they gave you. And “cannot afford to attend” is a much higher bar than “would prefer to pay less elsewhere”.</p>
<p>“But you have to demonstrate that you cannot afford to attend with the aid package they gave you.”</p>
<p>No, you don’t have to show anything. Imagine if you did, but couldn’t convince them; you would just be expelled when you couldn’t pay the bill. You just say thanks, but it wasn’t enough.</p>
<p>Here’s the rule:
<a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf</a></p>
<p>No mention of having to prove anything.</p>
<p>Wow, I never saw that ED Agreement form from the Common Application. (And apparently neither did heyalb; I’m guessing we’re not the only ones…)</p>
<p>I saw this line at the top of the form, though:
“Please check college specific information in our Requirements Grid or online to ensure a member institution uses this form.”</p>
<p>I looked up two random schools on the grid (<a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/SupplementInfo.aspx[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/SupplementInfo.aspx</a>) – </p>
<p>Claremont McKenna clearly says they require the ED Agreement form: “2 Academic Teacher Evaluation(s), School Report, Mid Year Report, Final Report, International Supplement to the Secondary School Report, Homeschool Supplement to the Secondary School Report, Early Decision Agreement”</p>
<p>Cornell University does not: “2 Academic Teacher Evaluation(s), School Report, Mid Year Report, Final Report”</p>
<p>So, it seems that some schools don’t bother with it.</p>
<p>I can say for a fact that if you applied ED to GWU, you had to check ED on the first page of the common application, and send in an ED agreement with Student, Parent and GC signatures. S’s school sends the signed agreement in with their transcripts, LORs, etc. Student and parent have to sign and bring form to GC. There was a post on the GWU forum from a student complaining that GW had changed the student’s status to RD because the ED form had not been received. On the GW application status page, students can see which forms have been received or are outstanding. There is a specific ED agreement box. There is also another ED agreement box in the financial aid forms section. OP’s parent had to sign off on ED.
Things may have been different in the past, but this year it was quite clear, at least for GW.</p>
<p>Yes, it does seem that the form is required by many schools. And the fact that some schools don’t ask for the form doesn’t change the OP’s obligation.</p>