<p>Is it possible for a prospective student to apply early decision somewhere, get accepted, but not get offered enough financial aid to attend the school? I was thinking about maybe applying early, but was wondering if you could get accepted, but not offered financial aid (and it will be hard to pay tuition). Aren't you basically screwed if that happens?</p>
<p>Anyone know how financial aid and early decision work? Seems to me like colleges would be reluctant to help early decision candidates since they are bound, and have to attend anyway.</p>
<p>You are allowed to back out of a binding ED for (and ONLY for) compelling financial reasons. If you dont get enough Financial Aid I believe you can back out. Look into each school individually - each has a different financial aid policy</p>
<p>In general, schools with ED like it because they can lock-in money from full-paying students, and they can lock-in some stand-out students who need financial aid, and it helps with managing yields at RD time.</p>
<p>Yes, you can decline the ED FA offer if it is insufficient to support attendance, and it’s your decision. Schools have no alternative; imagine if they somehow compelled attendance, but then expelled the student when the bill couldn’t be paid. I, for one, have never ever heard of this happening anywhere; imagine the horrible PR for the school if it did that.</p>
<p>But because you can’t compare FA offers from other schools, ED is appropriate only at your one dream school above all others, where your only question is: can I afford it?</p>
Get together with your parents if you haven’t already. Understand what $$ they can contribute. Run several of the on-line financial aid calculators. Some college have their own. Understand approximately what colleges might expect your parents to pay. It’s pretty straightforward with the exception of business owners, they anecdotally seem to get viewed differently at different institutions. Make sure they are prepared to fill out financial aid forms early using as accurate as possible information.
Read carefully all the information available about the colleges ED program. Understand what date you will receive your decision and how much time you have to send back the acceptance commitment if accepted. Those dates will be pretty tight…you won’t have weeks and weeks to decide and the expectation is you don’t “need” to “decide” since you applied to your true one and only. Make sure your parents clearly understand what this is about…that is is your one shot and if accepted the expectation is you will attend.
Understand what leeway you have with regard to the ED application. What I mean is, where can you apply and when can you apply. Different colleges have different restrictions in this regard. ED is NOT intended for you to compare financial packages so if you are rejected or if your financial aid package is very different than your expectations you will need to know when you can pull the trigger for other college applications. Most ED colleges are fairly liberal with the state flagship applications so make sure you can get that app in as needed. For example kids in Michigan must get their Michigan apps in early. Make sure you have a fall back plan and what that plan is.
Understand that ED is for the student who knows where they want to go, is, excuse the language, h*ll-bent on going there and everything else is a fall back. I would never let one of mind apply ED sight unseen so if you haven’t visited your ED school I would highly recommend it before making that type of commitment. It’s not inteded to be a fishing expedition.</p>
<p>The answer to your question is yes – you can get accepted ED and then find that the financial aid award is not sufficient to meet your needs. </p>
<p>Also – the financial aid award you are given with ED is tentative only - it will not be finalized until the spring when your up-to-date financial information is submitted. If there is any change in circumstances… you are out of luck. Example:</p>
<p>Your parents earn more money in 2010 than 2009. You apply ED in 2010 and are accepted in December, and given a financial aid award that looks pretty good. Then in April, 2010 you get a new, revised award based on the increased 2010 income – which comes as a shock. (For most middle class families, their EFC goes up roughly 45% of their increased income – that is, if parents earn $10K more, then their EFC increases by about $4500.)</p>
<p>The student who has applied RD will be weighing financial awards from multiple colleges based on current information – the ED applicant has given up that ability. </p>
<p>Bottom line: if you need financial aid, do not apply ED.</p>
<p>I think applying ED when you have financial need isn’t necessarily a bad idea. It depends on the college and on your financial situation. (My kid did.) I think momofthreeboys gave a great outline of the considerations a couple of posts up ^^.</p>
<p>^^ On the other side of the coin are the many ED FA success stories posted here on CC.</p>
<p>In calmom’s example, the school presumes that the increase in EFC can be paid for by the even larger (>2x) increase in family income. As the family’s need goes down, so does the aid, as it should be. Anecdotally, at our D1’s LAC, there has never (in the current staff’s memory) been a case of a student not being able to attend because of this example scenario.</p>
<p>If a school admits you ED with FA, it’s because they really want you, and are willing to take a financial “loss” to get you, and are highly motivated to work with you to make it happen if circumstances change.</p>
<p>A different bottom line: Applying for ED FA is fine as long as you understand how it works.</p>