<p>Since the early decision agreements at most schools are binding, I was wondering about the following...</p>
<p>If I ED'd to college #1 and got no scholarship money whatsoever but got accepted to another college of the same prestige but with a scholarship, am I still obligated to go to the early decision place with no money offered? Is there some kind of exception for these sorts of things? </p>
<p>Also, if I have to go to the place I ED'd to, then what's the value of early decision in you guys' opinions? Is it really worth it to risk possible scholarship money?</p>
<p>Sorry if this question sounds dumb or anything...I guess I'm pretty inexperienced when it comes to the topic of financial aid :(</p>
<p>If you check back posts, you'll see similar questions have been repeatedly raised, and the advice has been do NOT apply ED if finances are a concern.</p>
<p>ED is a great opportunity for people who definitely know where they want to go to college, and for whom finances are no concern. IF finances are a concern, you will need to be like the majority of students who apply to college -- not apply ED and apply to colleges making sure that you'll have some admission options that you know you can afford.</p>
<p>While it theoretically is possible to back out of ED due to finances, colleges won't allow that if they feel they've met your documented financial need. What colleges feel you need may be lower than what your parents feel you need. Colleges also can choose to fill your need by loading you up with loans. Some students have gotten financial aid that has included as much as $30,000 a year in loans. That's a back breaking loan load to carry and would greatly restrict your options for decades after graduation.</p>
<p>As for the example that you raised, if the ED college believes you have no financial need, but the other college gives you, for example, a full merit scholarship, you still are obligated to go to the ED college. Consequently, if you want to have the best financial deal, do NOT apply ED, but apply in a way that gives you the best scholarship possibilities.</p>
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If I ED'd to college #1 and got no scholarship money whatsoever but got accepted to another college...
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<p>Applying ED requires that 1) you only apply ED to one school, and 2) if accepted ED, you withdraw any other non-ED applications immediately. I suppose it would be possible to apply EA or rolling admissions to school B and gain acceptance prior to being accepted ED at school A. However, you would still be required to withdraw the application to school B.</p>
<p>An ED contract spells out all of the rules. If you are thinking of applying ED to any school, get a copy of the contract for that school. It is sobering to read through an ED contract that requires your signature, a parent's signature, and a school counselor's signature.</p>
<p>I applied ED with a EFC of 0. I called the school first and explained the situation, and they said they would take that into consideration with my application and that if what was not covered was more than my family income, I could break the contract. I had several friends who got ED and got less scholarship money than they needed call afterwards and get significantly more.</p>
<p>But call them first. I was dead set on a school with a significantly higher ED acceptance than regular (60% to 28%) so it was in my best interest to apply early as there really is no other school I have visited before or since that I would be happy about. It worked out well for me, but I'm a rare case. I don't think most schools work like mine did (and last I heard, mine does not do that any more) but you can never be sure until you call.</p>
<p>yeah, I would say don't worry about financial aid thing. Just apply ED, a lot of colleges will let you break the ED agreement if you can prove that their financial package is inadequate. And plus, since you're on CC, I'm assuming you would want to apply to those top schools ED, and almost all of those schools have 100% financial need met or whatever they call it</p>
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<p>100% financial need met </p>
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<p>The problem is that many top schools consider loans as meeting financial need. I've always felt this was entirely disingenuous - kind of like an auto dealer selling you a car for "free" (except for the loans, of course). While some loans are subsidized and are a somewhat better deal than others, I still consider every loan part of the family contribution inasmuch as they will be paid back by the student. Not everyone agrees with me on this, but hey... a loan that must be repaid is your money, not the school's.</p>
<p>In short, don't assume that a college that meets 100% of need will be affordable unless they also state that they will meet 100% of need with no loans. If you don't know your FAFSA EFC, calculate it - that will be a good starting point to understand what your need might be.</p>
<p>If you apply ED and also supply all of your financial data, the college should give you a timely indication of what they will offer you for aid (assuming no big changes in the current year data). If it's packed with loans, you can probably back out for financial reasons. If it's just a Stafford (and perhaps Perkins if you qualify) loan, that may be a reasonable burden to for the student to assume. The real catch is the "family contribution" - if they say that the EFC is, for example, $25K - and your family can't or won't cough up that much - you can probably back out for that reason, too. If you are applying to the most elite schools, though, you shouldn't expect huge differences in aid. Sometimes they will happen, and a few schools have gone "no loan", but they mostly work with the same data and reach fairly similar conclusions.</p>
<p>If you apply to schools that award merit aid (which Ivies do not do), you may see fairly big variations in your aid packages.</p>
<p>Since parents also sign the contract, it is unlikely that an accepted student can back out saying parents can't/won't be able to pay. Often the actual amount parents can afford is much less than the expected family contribution. That's where merit aid helps. You should be able to estimate what type of aid and the amount you are likely to get from the school you are considering. If it is in the range your family can afford, you can apply ED. You shouldn't go that path if you have a chance to get substantial merit and from another institution and would like to take advantage of it.
Good luck.</p>
<p>I fear your mixing apples and oranges may have led to some confusion.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>ALL schools will release you from your ED agreement for financial reasons (the schools can't acknowl need, refuse to meet it and then make you pay what they know you can't afford). Generally, if one shc finds you have no demonst need, it's unlikely another sch is going to find signif need. Might sch #2 offer you a modest finaid package ($5-7K)? Sure, but most families w? students applying ED are willing to bite the bullet (forgoe the modest finaid award) for the student's dream sch.</p></li>
<li><p>SCHOLARSHIPS are merit $, not finaid. If you're looking for merit $, probab best not to apply ED. Families actively seeking merit $ usually want to see all the offeres before having to make an enrollment decision. W/ ED, you will unlikely to get $ info from schs other than your ED choice.</p></li>
<li><p>What constitutes suffic $ gap to justify release from ED agreement. Who knows. Schs structure their packages differently (especially w/ regard to the student's resources), so modest differences ($3-5k ) in awards is not uncommon - - and probab insufficient to justify release, especially if the ED sch has met - - by it's calculation - - 100% of your family's need. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>(I'm not sure that Hamchuck's post #10 is correct. EFC is not set by the indiv shcs and you will know your EFC before the ED admissions decisions are announced in Dec. So, if you apply ED knowing that your EFC is $25k, the schs expect that if you will attend if your family contrib is $25 - - and by applying ED you have signed contract stating just that.)</p>
<p>Also, so schs structure the finaid package such that the "need" $ is in fact merity $. A less compet sch may offer a package that is mostly grants, and a more compet shc (where the student is less of a "catch") may offer more loans. This diff can be signif, ie: $12K loan w/ $13K grant from schA, and $5K loan w/ $20k grant from schB. Both packages total $25K and, assuming sch expense of $45K and EFC of $20K, eack package would meet 100% of need - - but the package from schB is much more attractive. Of course if you apply EDI (December notification), you won't have rec'd any other finaid offers (too early for RD applicants).</p>
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<p>Worth it to apply ED? Probab not if you need/want to see all the offers (whether finaid or merit) before making an enrollment decision. And certainly not if you're a finaid applicant and the sch doesn't promise to meet 100% of need. </p>
<p>But you shouldn't rule out ED just b/c you're a candidate for finaid or merit sch. Some shcs will consider ED applicants for merit $ (but you have to ask, b/c some shc rely on merit $ to entice top candidates, who usually don't apply ED). Also schs will often work w/ ED finaid families (appeal procedure; allowing student to re-apply RD so that s/he can see what other shcs offer - NB: this requires relinquishing your ED admit and re-applying)</p>
<p>That's only true if you're applying to a FAFSA only (usually state) school. Then your EFC is what the FAFSA says it is.</p>
<p>But if you're applying to schools that also use the PROFILE, then all bets are off. Individual schools do, in fact, use different pieces of parental assets, such as home equity, differently. They do their own individual calculations for parental EFC, and you don't know what that is until you actually get your award.</p>
<p>I advise my kids not to apply ED, even to their #1 school. The loan burden can be so high kids are still paying off their college loans well into their 30's. The burdens are tough right out of college (or grad school), but get even worse when you are also a young parent paying your own children's school tuitions. Financial Aid officers seldom show kids what they'll be paying, for how long, and on what salary. I know of recent college grads in Sociology (!) with a monthly student loan payment of over $1000/month.</p>
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<p>yeah, I would say don't worry about financial aid thing. Just apply ED, a lot of colleges will let you break the ED agreement if you can prove that their financial package is inadequate.>></p>
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<p>This is NOT good advice, in my opinion. Remember that the school can MEET your financial aid with hefty loans included in the package. If a school, for example, met your full need with more than 50% of the cost being in loans, they would STILL have met your need. You would not be able to prove they didn't meet your need...and they wouldn't care that they didn't meet your need with grants and scholarships (free money). </p>
<p>DO NOT APPLY ED if finances are a significant consideration. You will not be able to compare financial aid packages or discuss your awards between schools. ED is binding. As stated above, when you make a decision to apply ED, you also make a decision that you WILL attend that school if accepted, and you must withdraw all other application upon acceptance. Remember too, that sometimes the finaid does not come with the acceptance package. You may get your ED decision in January, but your finaid will not come until it's way too late to apply elsewhere.</p>
<p>Early ACTION (EA) is very different than Early DECISION (ED). ED is a binding acceptance, pull all other applications from any other schools. Done. With SCEA you can only apply EA to that one school EA (Single). But in all EA situations you can still apply to other colleges and your EA acceptance is not binding. In regular EA (not SCEA) you can apply to other schools including other EA schools (as long as you don't apply to a SCEA in the bunch). You do not have to commit to attending a college until May 1 and therefore you have the ability to compare multiple acceptances and finaid. ED...you can apply to any school you choose to apply to, but if you are accepted ED, you must pull all remaining applications that are pending and accept your admittance to the ED school immediately. Folks applying ED have agreed to accept an admittance offer....period. Yes...it says that you can get out of your ED acceptance if they don't meet your financial need. BUT there is nothing that tells you HOW they are going to meet that need (and it could be with loans, and a lot of them).</p>
<p>It is unlikely that a candidate will receive an ED finaid package too late to apply elssewhere. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>ED schools know that the finaid offer may be dispositive for some candidates. With EDI, decision letters go out in early/mid December with a prelim finaid award (we submitted addit info and the college decreased our family contrib.). If a studetnt declines EDI admission, s/he still has
"plenty" of time to complete other apps during Xmas break. Indeed, this is the fallback position of students who are denied during EDI. </p></li>
<li><p>Since the EDII app deadline is close to the RD deadline, most EDII candidates have completed apps at to other weeks before they receive their EDII decision.</p></li>
<li><p>If you're getting your ED decision after December, it's EDII. The EDII application deadline in ususlly in January app deadline and EDII is often the choice of candidates who didn't get into dream sch during EDI, but have a definite second choice sch. Since the EDII app deadline is close to the RD deadline, most EDII candidates have completed apps at to other weeks before they receive their EDII decision.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>If there are any changing circumstances -- such as a parent who is intermittently employed with a fluctuating income -- then the preliminary ED financial aid award isn't worth much -- it will change in the spring when the EFC is recalculated with current financial information. So in the case of a student facing a situation where the parents have made more money in the college application year than previous years -- the student will be in the position of receiving a final aid award form the ED school well past the deadlines for applying anywhere else.</p>