Hi all,
I am a current junior and have been doing some research on colleges lately. Most of my top schools offer ED, so I’ve been looking into the financial aid that comes along with applying ED. My question is this: does applying (and being accepted) ED mean that you get a better financial aid package? Or is RD the way to go? I know that applying ED means that you can’t compare financial aid with other schools, but I’ve been getting mixed messages about how it impacts aid at the ED school. I’ve read that applying ED means that you get more financial aid since colleges are more likely to spend their money on people they know will enroll BUT I’ve also heard that colleges will offer better financial aid packages to RD applicants as a way to entice them. So I was just wondering which one it is?
Thanks!
Whether either (or neither) is true likely depends on the specific college.
Many colleges are need blind so it doesn’t matter if you apply ED or not as the Financial Aid dept is separate from the Admissions Dept. That’s what you should look to see as far as the schools you’re looking at. Otherwise,
Bottom line, and you should look through some of the threads in CC, if you can’t afford to attend a school based on whatever FA package you might get, then don’t apply ED. Many people go off the EFC and it is not accurate and then are upset that they don’t get enough aid and can’t afford to go. There was a thread this year from someone who’s kid was admitted to Rice ED and actually received more than he expected and still couldn’t swing it and is not going.
Need-blind means that admissions is not looking at individual applicants’ FA need. It does not necessarily mean that the FA department is using the same FA formula for ED and RD applicants, or that it does not adjust FA for preferential packaging when admissions marks an admitted applicant for that. Of course, at colleges that offer merit scholarships, giving merit scholarships is often at the discretion of the admissions department.
Each school you are considering will have a financial aid calculator on their website. Sit down with your parents and fill it out to the best of your ability. This will give you an idea of what a school offers, based on the numbers you put in. We have found that these are very accurate at the schools our kids applied.
This would not include any merit scholarships the school may offer, only need based dollars, so the cost of attendance that the calculator spits out would generally remain the same whether applying ED or RD. Merit scholarships or similar, sometimes schools have a deadline 12/1 when you must apply by that is before the RD application deadline. Keep watch for that, because in that respect yes, that is additional money that could be missed out on. Other schools may just offer RD applicants additional merit $ without an additional application to help with making decisions and sweeten the pot 