<p>Does anyone know if under EA you get the same finances as under Regular Decision? Or is it like ED where they don't give you as much financial aid?</p>
<p>The EA schools with which I am familiar do not make final financial aid decisions until after all regular decision applications are in. Everyone is reviewed at the same time, by the financial aid office, not the admissions office.</p>
<p>Some EA schools do ask for (not require) a preliminary f.a. form at the time of the early application, and offer a preliminary estimate of your fa status, but the offer is not finalized at that time. (That was our experience, anyway.)</p>
<p>Why would they give you less financial aid anyway? The student is not contractually bound to attend, and could be expected to decline if the financial aid offer is not competitive with other schools.</p>
<p>I'm not sure that it is true that you don't get as much FA applying ED, at least for need-based aid. The problem with applying ED is that you are making a commitment to enroll before you can be certain of the FA you will receive. For merit-based awards ED applicants may be at a disadvantage, since the school doesn't need to use it as an incentive for getting you to enroll.</p>
<p>Regardless, need-based FA is only awarded a year at a time. If a school wants to get stingy with FA, if would be far easier to cut back on FA for returning students than to make distinctions between EA and RD applicants.</p>