Confusion about ED

<p>So I have been accepted ED to University of Rochester. I have to send my acceptance/deposit by the 24th of this month. The thing is that I still haven't received my financial aid offer, I don't know when to expect it, and I don't want to withdraw my applications to other schools until I know that I can afford to attend. I'm going to e-mail them on Monday, but I'm hoping someone has a quicker answer.</p>

<p>I don't exactly know what to do, and in what order. Help would be much appreciated.</p>

<p>If you were accepted early decision, then you do not need to wait for the financial information. You were accepted, you are suppose to attend! It is a binding agreement between you and the college. that if accepted, you will attend no matter what.</p>

<p>JamesJr- Some will let you out of the contract granted the FA projection does not work out.
It probably is on its way, you still have about two weeks. but I would guess your best bet is what they tell you on monday..I would probably call the FA instead of email, its faster and you can make sure you get your question (s) answered.</p>

<p>JamesJr, what ATLs09 said. A school can't lock you up or ruin your life because it is financially impossible for you to attend. It's not like I'd try to weasel my way out of ED over a few bucks, I know it's binding and I'll try my hardest to foot whatever the bill is.</p>

<p>Anyhow, calling does seem to be the best bet.</p>

<p>Yep, I also think you should call them up and ask about the FA package. One of my friends had the same situation last year (at a different school) and she called the school and that solved her problem.</p>

<p>Hmm .. how much is an amount that you would stay in the ED agreement for ?
Ex. 30k/year? ... 15k/year? .. etc. .</p>

<p>" and I don't want to withdraw my applications to other schools until I know that I can afford to attend.</p>

<p>This is exactly why many people suggest not applying ED if finances are a concern.</p>

<p>In the OP's defense though, circumstances may have changed ...&/or the financial aid advertised by the school may well have just not lived up to the hype..</p>

<p>The circumstance has changed in that the EFC the FAFSA spit out at us was nowhere near anything my mom could realistically pay. </p>

<p>Truthfully, we're guilty of putting too much confidence in the FA system, and expecting too much of the cost to be covered. But now that I'm at this point, I'm looking for what to do next.</p>

<p>SavetheManatees has EVERY right within the contract to withdraw..ONLY if she is able to prove she is unable to financially afford college. It is in the ED agreement, so it is not cheating the system.</p>

<p>The problem, Savethemanatees, is that if Rochester guarantees to meet 100% of accepted students' documented financial need, they may believe they have met your need even though your mom disagrees about this. This is why people for whom finances are a consideration should not apply ED. </p>

<p>The college could, for instance, feel it met your need by giving you $25k a year in loans. Understandably, most people wouldn't want to accept such a package, but that doesn't mean that colleges would let them out of their ED agreement. </p>

<p>Rochester can't force you to attend if you decide not to go. However, Rochester can inform other colleges that you've backed out of ED, and those colleges may then reject you. Colleges release names of their ED accepted students to other colleges that are similarly ranked and where students typically cross apply. </p>

<p>Often what happens after students back out of ED is that they can only go to an instate public since such schools tend not to reject students because the students backed out of ED agreements elsewhere.</p>

<p>Also, if you know you can't afford to go to Rochester because of what you're offering them, you need to let Rochester know. IF they don't change your financial aid offer, you need to be asked to be released from your ED agreement. You can't just sit back and wait until your other acceptances and financial aid offers come in. That's not what you agreed to do when you applied ED. </p>

<p>The beauty of applying RD is that one can compare financial aid offers. You lose that advantage when applying ED.</p>

<p>The school calculates the applicant's need using the FAFSA and the CSS; that your mom feels the Rochester offer is too low doesn't mean that the school failed to meet your need. The fact that your mom finds the offer too low does, however, permit you to decline the ED admission, but with the caveats cited in N'starmom's posts.</p>

<p>The school I applied ED for said that I only need to send in a email saying I can't go there and my ID number. They don't ask for proof or anything. So it really depends on the school.</p>

<p>I haven't even received my offer form Rochester yet. I'm just going based on the EFC I got from the FAFSA. I just want to get some info ahead of time. I'm going to go ahead and fulfill
the commitment I made to UofR, and hope for the best.</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice anyway, guys.</p>

<p>SaveTheManatees, just pick up the phone and call Rochester's FA office. They're very nice and the worst that can happen is they say "We don't have it yet." You may also want to contact your admissions officer (on the website it says which officer has which region) and discuss this with him or her.</p>

<p>Remember, Rochester now wants you to go there, and they'll try to help make it happen for you.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>Chedva,</p>

<p>I did just that today. As you said, they were very nice and the best news is that I should be getting my financial aid package by Saturday.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot.</p>