<p>Just wondering if anyone has any experience and or knows if you get less merit aid than you might have, had you not done early decision????</p>
<p>My concern is that if you do Early Decision then the school would know you definitely would want to go there and may not feel the need to give you any or as much merit aid as they might had you done regular apply. </p>
<p>Based on the Early Decision agreement form that you are required to sign, it stipulates that you are bound to the agreement except if you do not receive enough "need" based aid.</p>
<p>Lets say I know I will not receive any need based aid, but really am hoping for merit aid, what incentive does a school have to give you merit aid if you early apply? My fear is that the school would know by doing early decision that you are bound to going and what incentive would they have to giving you merit aid????</p>
<p>It’s possible. We have high financial need and my kid applied ED to a school with only need-based aid, so that worked for us. Had he been counting on merit aid, I would have discouraged him from applying ED. On the other hand, it really depends on the policies of the school you’re applying to. Maybe you should call the FA office and just ask them. Perhaps there is just a formula they apply in awarding merit aid, and that formula will be the same regardless. They may not tell you, but it can’t hurt to ask.</p>
<p>It depends - - if you are a candidate for one of the lesser awards, probably no diff b/d ED and RD, but the best/largest awards are usually reserved for RD, so if you qualify for the those, you’re likely to miss out if you apply ED (though you will get one of the smaller awards).</p>
<p>Re: Merit aid…in my experience (and I know this varies by school), the most generous merit aid awards are by special application. Those applications are due sometime between Nov 1 and Dec 1. So if you are looking for a LOT of merit aid, you also want to be sure that you have completed any necessary applications for it (if required by your school).</p>
<p>Honestly, if you are not sure the finances are going to work for you, I would suggest you apply in the RD round. It sounds like you do not feel you will qualify for need based aid.</p>
<p>I know some folks like the “edge” that appears to be there for ED applicants, but the bottom line is that if you can’t pay for the cost of attending, the acceptance will be of no use to you.</p>
<p>But as others said…if the school has formula based merit aid (usually some combination of SAT/ACT and GPA/Class rank) then you should be able to find that out.</p>
<p>Generally, yes, merit aid is recruiting tool. But most schools offer a range of awards and some of the smaller awards, often around $5k, are available to ED students (b/c the school has an interest in snagging lots of ED students). The largest awards, however, are used to lure strong RD students from other schools (usually higher-ranked or peer schools). </p>
<p>If you’re at the top of the candidate pool and you’re looking for full-tuition+, or you want to compare all $$ offers, then stick to RD.</p>
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<p>There are some schools that give “scholarships” of $2-3k to everyone who applies by a certain date or everyone who files a FAFSA. Offering these tiny dicounts allows schools to advertise that most of the students receive finaid or merit aid.</p>
<p>You could. That would not be a big issue for schools that guarantee to meet 100% of need and you are eligible for it. But it could make a difference if you are interested in merit money. The problem is that you would never know one way of the other because there is no comparison. You are committed and cannot compare offers. My son upped his merit offer at the school of his choice by bringing up other schools’ awards. Had he applied ED, he would have been stuck with the original package. Believe me, his school wanted the actual letters from the other schools accepting him and the packages before upping the award.</p>
<p>Merit aid goes to the strongest applicants. If you are a strong enough applicant that you think you may be a candidate for a merit award, why do you think you need the extra boost that comes from binding early decision? I don’t see the rationale for ED for a potential merit awardee.</p>
<p>FWIW, my son was a very strong hs student, and he was looking for a merit award at some of the top schools that give them. I had little to do with his applications or his choices, but I did have one rule: no binding early decision. It just doesn’t make sense to tell them you are definitely coming whether or not they give you a big award.</p>