<p>I love Barnard so much, and I really want to apply ED my senior year. The only problem is, I’d need a lot of help to pay for Barnard (in addition to what my parents can pay).</p>
<p>I know EDs are binding, so…what happens if you are accepted ED, but you can’t afford to go in the end?? :(</p>
<p>Yes, if you and your parents determine that you cannot afford to pay, you can get out of your ED commitment. But why would you want to put yourself in that position? Just apply regular decision so you have (hopefully) several aid packages to compare. </p>
<p>ED is NOT a good idea for someone in your position, IMO.</p>
<p>I’m in a similar financial situation, and I considered applying Early Decision, but decided against it. It didn’t seem worth he hastle to me. I’m just applying to several schools with Regular Decision and Early Action and hoping for the best.</p>
<p>I would recommend against Early Decision, though.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>Thanks guys. Only reason I was asking is because I really want to go to Barnard, and a family member told me that some colleges give more financial aid to EA/ED students, or that applying EA/ED shows commitment to the school(?).</p>
<p>Thanks though.</p>
<p>They do NOT give more financial aid to ED applicants. The amount of aid they give is based purely upon what they consider to be your “need”, and that is derived from you and your parents completing the FAFSA, Barnard’s own financial aid info and the CSS profile. </p>
<p>There might be some advantage to being able to apply ED as far as it being a smaller applicant pool, but not worth the risk you are taking.</p>
<p>If it helps you at all, my friend applied ED and I applied RD and we got about the same amount of aid (her family contribution is around $2500 while mine is $0).</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry until you know what kind of aid you need. Have you considered using a preliminary calculator? They’re not always 100% accurate but they give you a good idea. And Barnard meets your financial need 110%. My tuition and everything is covered by grants. Due to a scholarship, I don’t have a single loan, and I’m actually getting $231 back!</p>
<p>Do NOT apply ED if you need financial aid. And do NOT set yourself up to see Barnard as your dream school.</p>
<p>IF aid is important, then DO apply RD, but cast a wide net – apply to Barnard and other peer colleges that promise to meet 100% of need, and also apply to colleges where you are likely to get significant merit money, up to a full ride. Don’t fall into the prestige trap – your goal at this stage should be to give yourself a range of affordable opportunities in the spring.</p>
<p>Barnard’s Common Data Set shows that an applicant’s level of interest is considered as an admission criterion, so if Barnard is your dream school, applying ED may confer an admission advantage. The “danger” is that you don’t find out if another school would give you better financial aid (unless you decline Barnard’s offer if it is truly insufficient). You should apply ED only if your stats indicate that you have a realistic chance of acceptance, and the FA calculators suggest that sufficient aid is likely.</p>
<p>You can’t rely on financial aid calculators; Barnard uses the CSS Profile and considers income and assets not included in the FAFSA, an there are no calculators for that. Your FAFSA EFC represents the minimum you would have to pay-- but that could be a lot more depending on other factors.</p>
<p>My d. was Pell grant eligible for two of her 4 years at Barnard. Each year we were expected to pay about $10-$15K above her FAFSA EFC, which ranged from about $2800-$6000 in the 4 years she was in college. </p>
<p>Barnard was a reach for my daughter, but she got in RD in what I believe was the most competitive admissions year in the history of the school. If it is meant to be, you’ll get in. Barnard is fairly generous with need based aid, but there are a lot of factors that come into play. In my daughter’s case, Barnard offered more aid than other private colleges, but she received merit offers from in-state publics, where attendance would have been considerably less expensive. Barnard was a stretch for us but was affordable --but we had the choice and I could take a spread sheet and have a clear picture of the finances. Barnard’s aid package fluctuated from year to year, and if the first year package had looked like the third year package, it is likely that we would have turned Barnard down. (Barnard is consistent in its policies, but my income fluctuated somewhat, and some other factors came into play). </p>
<p>You can’t go into ED based on what type of aid you think is “likely”— ED isn’t a process by which you can tell the college whether you are “likely” to come.</p>
<p>I don’t know how much of a role demonstrated interest plays in admissions, but there are other ways that you can show it. My d. mentioned that Barnard was one of her top choices in the “why Barnard” essay; she traveled from the west coast to visit the campus and interview in September – and she put a lot of effort into her application and the supplemental materials she submitted.</p>