<p>Friend of mine applied ED here. Didn’t visit the campus before she was accepted ED. Visited it and hated the school. Did not withdraw her application at other schools. Ended up attending Wisconsin. Called Penn and said she couldn’t go due to financial circumstances.</p>
<p>Well, today she received a call from the Dean of Admissions, who said that they found her FAFSA, and that the excuse “I can’t afford it” wasn’t plausible. Dean then asked “So why don’t you want to go here?” and she avoided the question. Bottom line is, Penn is after her and trying to force her to attend. Even went so far as to say “I may have to go to Penn now”. </p>
<p>If you apply ED here, they will make you attend. You have to be 100% certain that there is no other school better for you, make sure you have visited the campus, and make sure the environment is one you want. If accepted ED and you don’t like it and want to go somewhere else, it will be VERY hard to get out of it.</p>
<p>Umm, yeah... like mahras said, the point of Early Decision is that it is binding. You enter a legally binding contract to go to the school you apply to if they accept you. You acknolwedge this when you sign your application and send it in to Penn. If that wasn't the case, it would be Early Action... and I trust that anybody who is applying to college should be smart enough to know the difference between the two (especially somebody qualified enough to be admitted to Penn).</p>
<p>I didn't visit the campus, was accepted ED and the funny thing is that when I visited during Spring Break, my first impression was less than what I had expected. Granted, I came in at night and it was raining, and I was tired. But, it took a few days for me to warm up to the campus.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, if you apply ED, to any school whatsoever, READ THE FINE PRINT. Yeah, you can get out if you have financial reasons, but don't waste their time. Nor waste the opportunity for another kid to have your spot.</p>
<p>For any school that has "Early Decision" it's binding. It's not like Penn is some evil school that is ruining her life by expecting her to keep the contract she got herself into. She should have known that if she applied and got in, she would be bound to attend the school. Furthermore, it is not wise to apply ED to a school without ever having seen it.</p>
<p>Is it that she couldn't afford it but Penn decided that she could, that sort of thing? Or did she just want to go to Wisconsin more? Did she visit Penn after being accepted?</p>
<p>This would be a good time for her to fake her own death :y:</p>
<p>what a noob her nickname should be "giant noob" and the dean of admissions should be given a medal for pwning her in her noob face
ED IS BINDING</p>
<p>wisconsin over penn? interesting. and seriously, how can anyone not understand that ED is a contractual agreement? What are this girl's parents and guidance counselor like?</p>
<p>I don;t feel the slightest bit bad for your friend who made a poor choice in applying ED to a school she wasn't sure she wanted to attend and now is being asked to keep her word.</p>
<p>I do feel bad for the kids in her school who are seniors this year. A school like Penn, or any other school which gets plenty of qualified applicants, is likely not to forget that this girl went to that high school. Potentially she is ruining the chances for other applicants. </p>
<p>The fine print on ED is the same at every school. Apply only if you are sure you want to go-- and be prepared to be highly scrutinized if you try to pull an 'oops I don;t have the money.'</p>
<p>I very much agree with anitaw. I think it is down right irresponsible to apply ED to a school and not be 500% sure you want in. I don't feel bad for this girl and what's more I feel bad for the student who applied early and didn't get in because this girl "thought" Penn was her first choice. Never assume anything about what a college will be until you go there. She took a spot away from someone who really wanted to be there. Furthermore, where were her parents when she made this terrible decision. If she's using their money (or some of it) to attend, don't you think they should have had a little conversation before she signed her name to a 4 year $170,000 contract. If she is going to be making ill concieved decisions before she gets to college, I shudder to think of what she might do during or after college.</p>
<p>How exactly did Penn "find her FAFSA"? Why would the dean be the person calling and not a subordinate? That story seems like a fabrication to me.</p>
<p>Penn would have a copy of her FAFSA, how else would they have been able to determine her financial aid package? That is the whole reason for the FAFSA, if the colleges didn't have it, there would be no use for it.</p>
<p>Exactly my point . When giving her reason for not being able to attend the school as financial, surely there would have been an inquiry into the financial status of her family. Early decision students receive financial aid decisions usually before RD students. I find it very difficult to believe that this girl is only receiving a phone call today, in August, about the issue.</p>
<p>Oh, I didn't understand what you meant. Yeah, now that you mention it, that is kinda funny, maybe they just put her paper in a file, and then it got way laid.</p>
<p>The whole story sounds fishy. They can't "force" her to come to Penn, the most she'll lose is her deposit. They can probably have her WI acceptance rescinded, though, and then she is forked anyway, as is her guidance counselor and future Penn applicants from her school. The ED contract AND the acceptance letter says you are supposed to withdraw all of your other apps.</p>
<p>Yeah the story does sound fishy...if she really wanted to get out of it she COULD and as quaker pointed out the most she would lose is her deposit and her admission to WI and/or other schools would be rescinded. So she would probably have to go to some other state school (still accepting apps) for a semester and then transfer.</p>
<p>ED plans do say that if the financial aid program offered is not acceptable for the student, they can opt out of enrollment. Some colleges take this stipulation more seriously than others. Private, and especially Ivy schools hold their students acountable when they sign their application. I don't understand why she thinks she can ignore that.</p>
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Anywho apparently I will be going to Penn next year. The Dean of admissions called me and was like "So, I see on your Fafsa that your parents can afford the school, so what is the real reason you are not attending?"
<p>This thread could be titled Beware: ED at (ANYWHERE!!!). ED is binding and your friend knew (or should have known) that when she sent in her application. It was a really poor decision on her part to apply ED to a school that she clearly did not know enough about. Now, unless she really has a financial aid problem (which it sounds like shse doesn't), then she will have to live with the consequences for a year and try to transfer asap.</p>