@brantly - when is such a contract signed? Is this prior to submission of the application or post submit?
The contract is submitted with the application.
@BelknapPoint - Thank you.
@Postmodern - Thank you.
@TomSrOfBoston “But the trees are the rules”
Disagree, the policy action of the forest always dictates and illustrates the true underlying intentions.
OP, your parents also sign the contract, as does your guidance counselor.
Moderator’s Note:
Let’s please return to the OP’s points and questions
Give your state flagships a chance - as @noname87 suggests some are actually better in many regards than the private alternative. Here in California there are lots of kids who go private because they could not get into a top instate public - lots of prestige and quality education at a flagship!
My understanding is that the advantage of ED is:
- for many colleges the admission rate is higher for this pool of applicants
- the process is over early and therefore saves time, money and the hassle of waiting till the spring for an answer
Last year the son of a friend of mine did not apply ED because of the financial aid issue (if he was accepted he could not compare aid offers and they might not have been able to afford the school). He applied and was deferred EA at another school, then applied to schools with good merit aid in December. University of Rochester offered him a full ride through their scholar program and later I found out that quite a number of other colleges offer this kind of thing–an honors program within a decent but not outstanding university with great merit aid. The son of a friend received something similar at Colgate. These are fine programs. It is worth investigating.
One person above posted that ED is not binding if one cannot afford the fin aid package, but I think the assumption is that one will not apply ED if one cannot afford whatever the college might offer.
Best wishes!
I sympathize with the OP’s worry, as we hit that with our first kid applying – full pay according to the schools, but without full pay resources. Kid #1 wanted big university, not fazed by large lectures, having to be independent and a self starter. He attends an OOS public flagship which, tuition plus room and board has cost us (with tuition increases and pricier housing choices as he got older), between about $36k to $42k a year. That we can pay, from college savings etc. We could not have afforded $60k as full pay at private university. He has had phenomenal experience, and is beyond happy. Kid #2 looked at his sibling’s large university and knew he wanted a LAC. Again, knowing what we could afford vs. the now $65k a year price tag for full pay, we researched merit and learned NESCACs and a number of other top LACs don’t give it (Haverford, Vassar, Swat etc). So, his list began around US News 35 and continued to around #80. He got 1/2 tuition merit from every school he applied to, most of them EA. Our actual price is something we can manage from 18 years of college savings.
The point is – many families are in the full pay spectrum without the resources to manage that comfortably. Their kids can have a robust, meaningful college experience, surrounded by motivated students and superb faculty – without requiring a second mortgage or never retiring. Did it make me a little sad when kid #1 couldn’t go to Michigan as an OOS student or kid #2 couldn’t go to Haverford or Vassar (if admitted). Maybe, briefly. But each kid is in a wonderful school, learning, growing, developing great friendships with life long friends and great mentoring from faculty. They will graduate without debt and the affordability of each school means there is some flexibility to manage unpaid summer internships etc. rather than pressure to maximize summer earnings.
I was grateful I stumbled onto CC in the junior year of kid #1, so that we learned about finances early enough that kid had options.
@Tara108 Yes, U of Rochester gives merit aid, but Colgate does not. Colgate only gives financial need based aid and athletic scholarships, but no merit aid for academic achievement.