<p>I know at some schools Early Decision is binding, so if you get accepted you must withdraw your applications everywhere else and attend that school. Is this the case at Cornell?</p>
<p>Yes Cornell ED is binding</p>
<p>Unless the financial aid they offer you is not enough. You can back out of the contract if that happens</p>
<p>i think if you backed out it would kill your chance at any other IVY as they honor each others ED policy</p>
<p>Except Cornell allows you to back out if their financial aid does not meet your needs. You wouldn’t be doing anything bad. However, their financial aid is usually very friendly so it’s usually not a problem.</p>
<p>Doesn’t ED imply binding?</p>
<p>Yes, Early Decision is always a binding agreement,</p>
<p>“Unless the financial aid they offer you is not enough. You can back out of the contract if that happens.”</p>
<p>That is very rare, you can only do that if they offer you basically nothing. Your CSS and FASFA prove how much you can pay for college, if Cornell meets your proven need, you are required to attend - ED can only be broken if it doesn’t meet your proven need. If your parents decide that what they give you is not enough, too bad: You shouldn’t have applied early.</p>
<p>Actually if you’re under 18 I think you can’t be legally bound by your signature (unless your parents also sign whatever contract you sign); so it’s definitely possible and completely legal to back out of ED, however it is very unethical unless you have some extenuating circumstances that arise</p>
<p>Counselors at my school said that if you try to break the ED contract, other schools will revoke their acceptances - that means you have no college to fall back on!</p>
<p>For international students, Cornell is absolutely not generous.</p>
<p>“Your CSS and FASFA prove how much you can pay for college”</p>
<p>Way false; the formulas don’t capture the financial state of many applicants’ families.</p>
<p>“Actually if you’re under 18 I think you can’t be legally bound by your signature”</p>
<p>ED is an honor system; nothing legal is involved, no matter what your age.</p>
<p>“Counselors at my school said that if you try to break the ED contract, other schools will revoke their acceptances”</p>
<p>Sounds like a scare tactic to try to get applicants to be serious about ED. Some simply don’t like ED. If you decline an ED financial aid offer from a school because it is insufficient to support attendance, there may well be other schools that want you more, and/or are able to offer you more aid.</p>
<p>From the Common Application ED agreement:
<a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf</a></p>