<p>Hi,
I just have a question about Early Decision. If a student applied Early Decision to a top(but not Ivy League, or Ivy-League like) school and got in Early Decision could they break the agreement for a state school? For example, I have a friend who applied to a state school as a back up and got in way back in December. Then she decided to apply early decision to Muhlenberg in February and got in. Her parents are now thinking that 47,000 a year is WAY to much and that they could afford the 20,000 of the state school much easier. I think they are crazy for trying to pull something like that off...but could they do it?</p>
<p>Below is an excerpt that might give you some info. I would call the number to get complete details. She could be blacklisted by other schools if she backs out. However, if she was applying for financial aid at Muhlenberg and did not get it, that could be a valid reason to back out. I don’t know enough about this- she really needs to follow thru w/ the number listed.</p>
<p>"If you are accepted under an early decision plan, you must promptly
withdraw the applications submitted to other colleges and universities
and make no additional applications. If you are an early decision
candidate and are seeking financial aid, you need not withdraw other
applications until you have received notification about financial aid. "</p>
<p>National Association for College Admission Counseling
1631 Prince Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-2818</p>
<p>Phone:
703-836-2222
800-822-6285
NACAC Homepage</p>
<p>Most colleges are OK with breaking the ED agreement for a state school.</p>
<p>Have a look at <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/education/edlife/strategy.html?_r=2[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/education/edlife/strategy.html?_r=2</a></p>
<p>This OP post makes no sense</p>
<p>How can a kid apply ED and be accepted in December</p>
<p>and apply ED again much later…</p>
<p>Aren’t ED apps due much earlier and the decisions come out Nov/Dec.?</p>
<p>Muhlenburg is not a state school.</p>
<p>So is the “friend” trying to get out of the ED from the fall, or the “ED” from Feb ?</p>
<p>fogfog, state schools often have rolling admissions so the OP may well have applied RD there and gotten an answer in Dec. ED deadline at Muhlenburg is Feb 15 which is odd, but the basic story does make sense. I believe that the friend applied to the state school RD, got in and heard in Dec , and then applied ED to Muhlenburg</p>
<p>Here is what M says:
2. When do we decide? - We begin reading ED applications around Thanksgiving. As decisions are made, we mail decision letters weekly through Feb. 25.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>What about financial aid? - We pledge to all Early Decision applicants that we will treat them fairly for financial aid (and we run early need-based and merit aid processes so that students admitted Early Decision know about financial aid before they are required to deposit). In order to hear about need-based aid as quickly as possible after an ED acceptance, file a CSS Financial Aid Profile within a week of applying to Muhlenberg. We will run early need-based and merit aid processes for accepted ED students.</p></li>
<li><p>What is your commitment? - If you are admitted ED, youre expected to withdraw other applications and enroll at Muhlenberg. This is a promise you should not make lightly.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>For 4 above, only if the family finds the FA package to be enough to support attendance.</p>
<p>It sounds like the student applied ED to the private and rolling admissions to the public.</p>
<p>If the student contacts the ED school and says that the family no longer finds it to be affordable, I doubt they’d do anything to prevent the student from attending the cheaper state school.</p>
<p>This is true. But “we decided we would rather not pay as much” is not the same thing as “paying that much would cause us serious financial hardship”.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>True…that’s why the wording is important. It is a “gray area” for a family when they determine whether something is a financial hardship or not because no family knows what’s in their future.</p>
<p>I would still say it’s a bad idea, unless the family’s financial troubles would be more severe than I’m reading from the OP. It’s not likely that something bad would happen, but is being able to go vacation in Hawaii one summer really worth the risk?</p>
<p>Of course, if it honestly would cause significant financial troubles to spend the $47,000, that’s a worse idea.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Did I miss the statement that the parents would rather spend the money on a trip to Hawaii?</p>
<p>What’s probably more likely is the parents have “done the math” (albeit late) and have realized that spending $200k plus during the next 4 years is not a good idea…perhaps one parent’s job is iffy, or perhaps a major home repair is needed (new roof) or something else…or perhaps the student’s recent school effort is not demonstrating the need to spend $200k.</p>
<p>If you have to back out, make it clear that it’s for financial reasons, and explain why it’s simply not feasible. Of course, this looks iffy if the OP never applied for financial aid in the first place, unless something dramatic (a parent losing a job) has come up.</p>
<p>Hello,
Thanks for all the help. I will definitely show her this post! And yes, she applied Regular Decision (rolling) to the state school in November, and early decision to Muhlenberg in February. The problem is that although the financial aid package was good, it was all academic scholarships and no need based. This means she’s going to have to take out a TON in loans. Because she’s going into a more fickle career, her parents feel that it is not good to take out so much in loans. Does this clear things up?</p>
<p>Well, it’s clear why she might want to go to the school that is most affordable. But what is also clear is that she applied ED apparently without intent to follow the rules. She really should have applied RD to Muhlenberg or told the state school that she was not coming. That’s what the rules are. I would imagine that Muhlenberg would not be happy to learn that she has already broken her commitment. If she and her parents are now sure that the state school is the school of choice, they should retract the Muhlenberg application or have it changed to a RD application.
It seems as if Muhlenberg would be ‘doable’ - that her parents could pay ( and seem not to have applied for financial aid) but are choosing (probably wisely) not to. That is NOT the same as being UNABLE to pay.</p>
<p>“But what is also clear is that she applied ED apparently without intent to follow the rules.”</p>
<p>We can’t know what her intent was at the time, and we can’t know what’s doable for the family. They may have thought they could manage the huge loans. These are really scary financial times.</p>
<p>Actually nemom, she had every intention of going to M if accepted. Its just that in the last few weeks her parents and her have had a bunch of discussions and realized that its not smart to take out so many loans. Also, she just found out about M two weeks ago and financial aid about a week ago so she’s not purposely not canceling applications in spite of the contract. Finally, her family DID apply for financial aid (both need and merit based) but as I said before they only received merit based(albeit a generous offer).</p>
<p>Ah, I hope things work out for her! She’s all stressed out!</p>
<p>xo,
Nellie33</p>
<p>Well, when she applied to M, she already had an acceptance to another school and she did not withdraw from that school. Now, things are a bit murky because it is very unusual to already have an acceptance in hand when applying ED. Usually , you would get the ED decision before any others after all. So, one could argue that it’s not entirely clear what the right thing to do is. And, I would have no problem at all , of course, with her applying to M RD.
And, pragmatically, I’m glad her family is taking those loans seriously. Too many folks don’t.</p>
<p>ya know what? the people at Muhlenberg are some of the most reasonable people in the college admissions profession…and since their ED process is soooo different than others (runs rolling from Nov-February), they may be very understanding to the OP’s position…</p>
<p>that being said, I know for a fact that Muhlenberg does something very unique in the FA process; they provide an “early read” for FA applicants…therefore, the OP’s friend should have had a very good idea about their financial aid possibilities prior to applying for ED…</p>
<p>can you respond Nellie? has something changed since the “early read”?</p>
<p>Unfortunately…I think they did get an early read and it was the same as the financial package. So that won’t help her case at all. Nothing drastic has changed, so they are definitely at fault there. Its been more just a realization of the impact of student loans. Especially when she’s looking into going into an arts career.</p>