I am the parent of a Senior, he will be applying for Fall 2017. I am not sure if I am wording my question right, but I want to know if his accepting “EA” or “ED” (I am not completely sure of the differences) at lets say Princeton or Stanford affect, how much money he gets?
If he says “Yes” and if its binding, he has to accept the financial aid package with no negotiation?
Or is there room for back and forth on the EA and ED?
I notice the EA and ED Acceptance Rates are far greater, so I am wondering why dont more people do that at elite colleges?
Is it because you are stuck with a $40k or $50k tuition tab?
Thanks
ED financial aid offers are seldom negotiable.
ED applicants will seldom get merit aid.
Bot Stanford and Princeton have the restricted early action option. Actually Stanford calls it REA and Princeton calls it SCEA (single choice early action).
In both cases, this is not a binding acceptance because it is early ACTION, not early DECISION.
However, the student applying to Stanford or Princeton early cannot apply to other colleges early decision or early action…only the ONE school (I believe they do allow you to apply to your public university early).
Students can apply regular decision to other schools.
So, if the student applies to Stanford only REA, he will be able to compare financial aid awards from other schools with the Stanford award.
Same with Princeton.
But really…both of these schools have extremely generous need based aid. Very generous.
@thumper1 I believe you muddled the discussion. The OP is asking about basic EA and ED factors not the variations at certain elite schools.
@JulyRain If you cannot afford the COA then you will be released from the ED agreement but the school is not likely to make it affordable for you with more financial aid.
I’m pretty sure Stanford and Princeton will provide the same, need-based FA for everyone, regardless of when they apply.
Other schools - with merit, or less generous FA policies - may do less merit aid or a higher loan portion for ED admits. Some wil require students to apply EA (or RD before a specific date) to qualify for certain merit aid.
quote at lets say Princeton or Stanford affect, how much money he gets?
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@TomSrOfBoston this is what the OP put in their post.
Early Action- this is an early application process. Students can apply early to colleges and generally get admission results by mid-January at the latest. This is NOT binding. Students can apply to schools regular decision.
For regular early action, students can also apply to a number of different colleges.
Some schools have restrictive early action, or single choice early action. In the case of these schools you can only apply to their school EA. You can still apply regular decision, however.
Early Decision is also an early application process. You can only apply to one school ED. This is a binding acceptance except if the finances are not going to make it work. The school will release you from an ED agreement for financial reasons.
A student receiving an ED acceptance will also receive their financial aid award. This year, it won’t even be estimated…it will be the real deal because the 2017-2018 forms will use the 2015 tax return data…and the forms will be available by October 1. Once accepted, a student has a short window of time to either accept or decline the offer of admission. If accepted, all other pending applications or acceptances must be withdrawn.
Thanks so very much. I cant believe how responsive people on this Forum are
I am going to go back and re-read all the responses. Thumper1 thank you for explaining the differences
YOUR explanation might be IT… I might not do any more Google searches on EA vs Ed >:D< ^:)^
Oh please…I’m just a parent. Read elsewhere also…and get explanations as you need them.
There are many knowledgable folks on this forum! Many!!
I will add…if financial aid is really a significant consideration…I would suggest you NOT apply Early DECISION. You get one acceptance and one financial aid award…and have no ability to,compare net costs amongst schools. The issue is…the ED offer could be the very best one…but you will never know…because you can’t compare.
Got it! Thumper1. I will try to remember that… “avoid ED” Yes Financial Aid is HUGE for me, I am a single parent, and he is an outstanding student…I am hoping for a great school =D>
What are his SAT/ACT scores, and GPA? There are some knowledgable folks here about merit awards as well.
It only makes sense to apply ED if the student is 100% certain that he or she would choose that school over an acceptance from any other school. And, while you can be released from an ED acceptance on financial grounds, it’s probably a pain in the rear end, so being fairly certain you could pay for that #1 dream school – run the EFC! – would be a good idea too before applying ED.
You’re a single parent? Is the father alive? if so, then schools like Stanford and Princeton will also look at the father’s income and assets as well as his new spouse’s.
Re: #10 – I meant NPC, the Net Price Calculator. (though knowing the EFC is obviously helpful also…)
^ Yes, run the Net Price Calculator on each school’s web site. If you have a relatively simple tax situation (no small business owner) then the numbers should be accurate.
He will be a Senior in Fall
unweighted GPA is 3.99,
weighted is 4.47 and
ACT is 34C,
8 AP classes under his belt, he is taking 5 or 6 next year
STEM
Languages
History
English etc
Dont know cutoffs yet, but could be a Natl Merit Semi Finalist or atleast Commended
Works in a Fortune 50 company part time
Seriously loves Math… has over a 100+ Math hours teaching elementary kids
Has represented the High School in Nationals for Science competitions multiple times
Hoping to do Electrical or Mech E
Thanks very much for any/all inputs
This is quite new to me.
Mom2collegekids: Unfortunately he is not alive! 
And no there is no other adult in the picture
It is a reach (and he should only apply to a couple of reaches, he really wants matches and safeties), but Harvey Mudd is a school that might really appeal to him. The admit rate is only about 10% for male students, though (but that is higher than Stanford’s 5% rate). And it is a very strong math & engineering education, and they “meet need” (per their definition).
As was mentioned above, every college has a net price calculator on their website. You can enter your family’s financial information and see what kind of aid your kid might get.
The reason these schools have higher acceptance rates for EA and ED is because mostly the tippy top students apply. If it was the general population applying such as with rolling and regular decision with kids and varying stats, the acceptance rates would be lower and more in line with the later acceptance rates.