<p>Let's say that finances are important.</p>
<p>Is there a way to preview what the financial aid package from the ED institiution would be if you opt for ED at that institution? THen one would be able to make an informed decision on both fronts, the college, as well as the finances part.</p>
<p>Realize the 2007 (assuming at Fall, 2007 ED) tax info would not have been filled out yet.</p>
<p>No, you might be able to get an idea through their financial aid calculator, but even that may not be accurate.</p>
<p>By applying ED, you also miss opportunities to get merit aid from other universities.</p>
<p>Imagine how you'd feel if you got a perfectly acceptable financial aid package including the typical mix of grants, loans, work study from your ED university, which you accept, and then learn later that an equivalent student from your school who applied RD to your second choice school (where you'd withdrawn your application) got a full ride plus laptop via merit aid from that school. You might think that if you'd had that option, you'd have happily gone to your second choice school, but because of ED, you would not have had that chance.</p>
<p>This is a good example of why not to apply ED if finances are any concern.</p>
<p>well, if it helps, i hope that people do not take kk's word on this subject as well. for, i feel, aside from only serving as a controversy igniter, kk's advice would end up hurting applicants more than it would help.</p>
<p>The lack of depth in your post is offensive to me at best. I'm not the only one who shares these views; other ED students, lawyers, etc shared the same view. So, don't try to paint me as just some "controversy igniter." My points are not off-base. The fact is, an applicant DOES NOT always have to uphold an ED contract, plain and simple. Moreover, said applicant also doesn't have to fear having "no" schools to attend if she chooses not to. I've been in an admissions office through a few applicant cycles, and I can tell you the school I'm at does not call up its peers to try to get a student who doesn't uphold an ED agreement rejected from those schools - it just doesn't happen. Like I said, all I want is for as much information on the subject to be discovered as possible; people can choose to believe what they wish.</p>
<p>Northstarmom: </p>
<p>You painted an interesting scenario, and looking closer at your response, there seems to be <em>two</em> scenarios suggested:</p>
<p>1) at my ED school, an equivalent student going RD later gets a better deal</p>
<p>2) equivalent school ("2nd choice"), another student, going RD there, gets a better deal than I</p>
<p>(1) would be a gnashing of teeth for me ("Oy! I should have waited and went RD!")</p>
<p>(2) Northstarmon said "equivalent school"; but I assume a 2nd choice school would not be equivalent, but would be 'next best'; therefore, if I got in to the ED school - a 1st choice school - I would not care, nor wd I regret, about getting a better deal at my 2nd best school. I know this might sound contrary to my starting premise in my post #181 (finances are important), but now I am suggesting that there is another reason one opts for ED:</p>
<p>to increase one's chances at a school where you are not the stongest candidate. In this case ("school #1"), this MIGHT trump finances; it actually opens a door that was not formerly opened (RD). So in this case, there would be a party and not a gnashing of teeth. Actually, there wd not be a party, because we would not be able to afford it; we'd just have smiles for getting into our #1 school - smiles are cheap. :)</p>
<p>And, Here is an interesting general question on this subject (not sure if this wd be a separate thread):</p>
<p>Why do ED?</p>
<p>I did ED this year because I knew where I wanted to go and it saved me an extra 4 months of waiting and stress and meant I had 6 less applications to fill out.</p>
<p>ses, great benefit for ED: You get your SR yr in HS back to you! THat's got to be worth a bunch!</p>
<p>if you don't mind me asking, was money important to your decision - that is, was there an FA pkg offered in the school's response? Were you able to get a 'preview' of what the pkg might be if accepted before you applied ED?</p>
<p>I did not apply for Financial Aid. But most schools have a calculator on their website.</p>
<p>somewhere I saw stats on ED admit rates vs RD amit rates. Anyone point us to this data ?</p>
<p>also, anydata on EA admit rates vs RD admit rates?</p>
<p>
[quote]
But most schools have a calculator on their website.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Calculating what, exactly? Estimates of EFC or "financial need" according to a standard formula (not specific to the school) don't suffice for ED purposes, you need to calculate the composition of the financial aid package.</p>
<p>"In this case ("school #1"), this MIGHT trump finances"</p>
<p>Make sure that your parents totally agree.</p>
<p>"(2) Northstarmon said "equivalent school"; but I assume a 2nd choice school would not be equivalent,"</p>
<p>Not true at all. The Ivies, wash U, U chicago, Northwestern, Georgetown, all would be considered equivalent schools in that, for instance, Wash U isn't likely to allow a student to back out of ED after getting a Harvard admission. Wash U possibly wouldn't care if a student backed out in order to accept a full ride at a state U.</p>
<p>we're not looking into ivys.</p>
<p>what if </p>
<p>school #1 was in the usnr top 10 ; eg, Carleton?</p>
<p>and </p>
<p>school(s) #2 were 50-100 place; eg, Lawrence U / st olaf / earlham?</p>
<p>and </p>
<p>act=24
gpa=3.2 / 3.7 w/uwted?</p>
<p>with great ecs, essay, and recs?</p>
<p>ED provides an admission bump, but how much?</p>
<p>will early decision HELP with acceptance oportunity in any way?
is there more $$ available with ED?
................ thx</p>
<p>"ED provides an admissions bump, but how much"</p>
<p>i used to think ED didn't help THAT much, but my college counselor said it moves your school back a whole category. Ie, if you applied ED to a school that would normally be a reach in RD, it is a match in ED. Or, a match in RD becomes a safety when applied ED. In fact, when we got our college lists that placed colleges of our interest in the categories of reach, match, safety, the letter instructed us to shift down a category if applying ED.</p>
<p>But I don't think that applies to any top school. Harvard doesn't magically become a match just because you apply early.</p>
<p>idic:</p>
<p>ED helps on those with extremely strong transcripts thru Junior Year. Someone with a B+ average would need first semester grades during senior year to show an upward trend for highly selective schools such as Carleton.</p>
<p>so crazn's idea of ED bumping up (post #191) from our reach to a match would not be applicable in Carlton's case where I believe the RD admit rate is 32 pct or thereabouts. The ED admit rate is 50 pct, I think.</p>
<p>OMG.. SO WHAT IS THE FINAL ANSWER. Can you do it and get away with it. Okay, so its proven thta if you break a contract to an ivy, they will notify each other.. but what if you broke UCLA for some random ass college on the east coast. How can they find out?</p>
<p>Just don't ****ing do it!!!!</p>
<p>ahhhhhhhhhh</p>
<p>MS - there are about 9,000,000 school combinations in the US and countless life situations to consider to try to answer your question. There is no way for anyone to possibly answer your question in a concrete way given the ambiguity of the question. If you provide a very specific scenario a bunch of people on CC could provide much better info.</p>