<p>Sorry if this is a dumb question. My son's 1st choice is a pricy, prestigious liberal arts college. The financial aid deadline isn't til Dec 1st. We are not rich. Very middle class. Am scared for him to apply early decision when it's binding and we wouldn't know what scholarships etc he might get. But it's definitely his #1 school. Is early decision only for rich people that can just write a check for the full 50K tuition?</p>
<p>I would have to say it definitely advantages people with a lot of money. The people in the middle class are the ones most impacted. If you need to compare offers it’s probably best not to apply ED.</p>
<p>If the financial aid is not adequate for him to be able to attend, you will be released from the agreement, no harm, no foul. Go ahead and have him apply, but make sure he knows finances may be an issue. Also, run the net price calculator on the college’s website if you haven’t already.</p>
<p>Have you at least run the net price calculator to see if there is a decent chance of the school being affordable after estimated financial aid?</p>
<p>Usually, ED allows backing out if the financial aid is insufficient (check the school to make sure). So it is reasonable to apply ED if one is prepared to decide yes or no if admitted without comparing the net price against that of other schools.</p>
<p>The typical “ED financial aid dilemma scenario” goes like this:</p>
<ul>
<li>Student is admitted ED with financial aid that makes it barely affordable.</li>
<li>Student may regret matriculating to the ED school if another school offers a lower net price.</li>
<li>Student may regret turning down the ED school if no other school offers a lower net price.</li>
</ul>
<p>If the ED school is the student’s clear first choice, and the student will have no regrets matriculating if the net price is affordable (i.e. no regrets if some other school offers a full ride or something like that), then it would be reasonable to apply ED.</p>
<p>It is definitely the reason we did not let our son apply ED to his #1 school. ED is binding and so once you are accepted under an ED program, you are obligated to withdraw all other applications. Unfortunately, you won’t know what your financial aid package is until a couple of months later. If the FA package is not adequate enough for your financial circumstances, you don’t have any options left since you will have withdrawn all of your other applications. I believe that you are allowed to cancel an ED admission if that option becomes unaffordable. The only problem is that by that time, your only option is either schools with rolling admissions, or a local CC. </p>
<p>My son had a D1 coach interested in him, but he could not offer a scholarship and wanted my S to apply ED. Even the rep from that school who was making a presentation at my S’s high school told my son that he did not recommend doing that. I was very grateful about that because we had already told our S the same thing but it meant more coming from a school rep. As it turned out, our S was admitted RD to that school, but the FA package that was offered was not even close to enough. </p>
<p>I have also heard (and I don’t know if this is true- maybe someone else can comment) that students are less likely to get a good FA package when they apply ED because the school knows that student already wants to go there so why offer incentive. </p>
<p>So in the end, yes, I think ED is a more appropriate choice for those who have adequate finances to fund the college at full cost.</p>
<p>^^^Others posted before I finished my post. There is a problem applying ED if you cannot afford the school. Since you must withdraw all other applications on being accepted ED, you may be left with no options once you receive your FA offer. Do not apply ED without understanding the process thoroughly!</p>
<p>fsugrad, very good advice from all posters above. My D is a rising senior, and she will not be applying ED. Just too risky, imo. Good luck.</p>
<p>It is wiser to only apply to EA schools or just apply RD so you can compare the financial packages. They can vary, and certainly the loan component can vary. You might get the same EFC everywhere but some schools will give you more loans in your aid package. You should also run the net price calculator to see if this school is going to be affordable for you at all.</p>
<p>Even though he has a #1 pick, he has to understand that finances are part of the consideration, and in the mix he should be applying to schools that you can definitely afford, or where he is assured of good aid.</p>
<p>ED works very well if you are full pay or no pay. In between is where people tend to get surprised.</p>
<p>One should not apply expecting merit scholarships either.</p>
<p>@takeitallin - most schools that offer ED will provide FA package with the ED acceptance. Applicants will then have one or two weeks to determine whether the FA will work for the family before accepting admission. It is not until the family makes this determination to accept ED offer that all other applications must be withdrawn - usually late December or early January.</p>
<p>Thanks all for the excellent input!</p>
<p>My D applied EA to Tulane and had that as a back-up when she decided to go ED2 at her first choice. That way if the aid package hadn’t worked out, she still had an acceptance at a college she really liked. Fortunately, the price we got matched the estimate on the net price calc (actually a little cheaper!).</p>
<p>“Applicants will then have one or two weeks to determine whether the FA will work for the family before accepting admission. It is not until the family makes this determination to accept ED offer that all other applications must be withdrawn - usually late December or early January.”</p>
<p>^ This is a good way of rewording the actual rule:
</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf</a></p>
<p>So if the offer is not enough to support attendance, you tell them thanks but no thanks, and apply elsewhere RD.</p>
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<p>Incorrect. My kid’s school provided a financial aid package with the ED acceptance.</p>
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<p>That’s incorrect as well. If the financial aid package is not to your liking, you can decline the ED offer and keep the other applications pending.</p>
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<p>We were one of those in-between people where ED not worked out extremely well; attending the pricey private with need-based aid was less expensive than our instate public flagship. S would not have likely gotten in without ED. Of course, we ran all the financial aid calculators first, and the financial aid was very close to the online numbers.</p>
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<p>My understanding is that the FA package that comes with an ED acceptance is based on the estimated PROFILE (or FAFSA depending on the school). Since that uses the previous year’s tax returns, the “real” FA package comes out in the spring, after the PROFILE/FAFSA are submitted using the current year numbers. Some families don’t bother filling out the PROFILE/FAFSA carefully prior to ED, reasoning that they’ll be super-careful for the “real” thing. Unfortunately, those families may see a big change between the estimated FA package they received at ED time and the spring FA package. :(</p>
<p>@SlitheyTove - technically you are correct, but shame on anyone who carelessly fills out and submits financial documents - they deserve what they get in my mind. If the actual FA package in April varies from the estimate received in December, a family can always request an explanation and file an appeal.</p>
<p>I would even take your argument a step further and point out that the FA package received in April only covers freshman year. Obviously, all four years must be estimated, assumptions made and trust must be placed in the good faith promises of the university’s FA office.</p>
<p>We let D2 apply ED because of how much we had learned with D1. Our financial picture had not changed and included no wild cards. The college was meet full need. </p>
<p>Following quarter, we did have to submit that year’s tax forms (and update what we had projected D2 would earn.) But there was no change to the initial offer.</p>
<p>Some advocate waiting to compare offers, but if this is a great match, it boils down to this: you have to know what dollar range you can actually afford, what you could stretch to. Then if what you receive is within that- it may not be the max, but you may decide it is doable. Not dreaming, not tying up huge parent loans. </p>
<p>And if you cannot manage it, you back out. Has to be rational. Very. The kid isn’t dreaming because of the school’s rep or competitive admissions. The parents aren’t dreaming about how wonderful it would be to have him at X, and ignoring financial realities.</p>
<p>OK correction. At Boston University where my son thought about applying ED, the FA package would have come with the acceptance. We had already run the numbers and knew it would not be enough. However, all of the big scholarships are separate applications and are not determined until much later. So he would have had to accept and withdraw all other applications without knowing the full financial picture. We could not take that risk and while he was awarded scholarship money from BU when he applied RD, it was not enough to make it a doable option. So yes, it is correct that you will receive a FA offer early with ED, many schools do not award scholarships until RD offers are made. It may be tough to make an informed decision when applying ED.</p>