<p>I agree that the packages of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Williams may differ by a thousand dollars, but not by any significant degree. The decision of where to go or where to apply should not turn on that. Nobody is going to enter into a bidding war for OP's daughter. If Princeton admits her ED and on their calculation she is entitled to $39,000 in Finaid, they are not going to be all that receptive to the argument that Harvard might give her $40,000. They will likely be receptive to the argument that the, amount considering the circumstances,is inadequate. If OP's daughter is neutral as between Harvard, Yale Princeton, I would apply ED Princeton. As an international applicant she is almost certainly going to be deferred SCEA at Yale and the spread between the Yale/Harvard/Princeton packages is so small that she should not forego the admissions advantage of applying ED.</p>