<p>I understand what you wrote and respectfully disagree.</p>
<p>What you are saying is that ED is reserved for those in the top 1% of the income generators across the US, i.e. EFC > $43,000. If the schools truly are need-blind in their admissions, why exclude the other 99% of the applicants from the ED pool? I believe it is the reason that congress has looked into the subject and some schools are changing their policies.</p>
<p>Further, the term is sufficiently undefined as to be ambiguous. I still do not believe that it is a valid contract.</p>
<p>Actually, Eagle79, you might be surprised to learn that I am on your side at least in this regard: I think schools should do away with ED entirely and go to Early Action, the best of all possible worlds for the student: he or she finds out early, AND it is non-binding so there is time to compare aid packages.</p>
<p>But the reason I feel that way is because ED clearly IS meant to binding, not ambiguous. That's why the signatures, having to tell your GC etc. And yes, as it stands now, ED is really only for people who can afford it - though whether we like it or not, there are many, many good things in society available only to those who can afford it. The fact that we don't like it or it offends us is probably not sufficient cause in a capitalist society to end the practice.....</p>
<p>PS you should know by now that a school's definition of "need blind" is not the same as ours - if it were, they would not have almost EXACTLY the same percentage of needy versus non-needy students each year!! (that is, the percent of aid recipients and the percent of full payers tends to remain the same year after year. Coincidence? I don't think so!)</p>
<p>Sokkermom, awesome about the $2.02. I don't know about you, but I live in one of the most expensive counties in the US, and no one had a price anywhere near that! You lucked out!</p>
<p>I agree on the EA situation. If the schools want an indication of a student's first choice then use SCEA. Though that policy can prevent some students from qualifying for the merit scholarships at some schools.</p>
<p>Regarding ED, many view it as a valid contract but as a practical matter I would like to know how many times a school has enforced that contract with a student who has later decided to attend elsewhere.</p>
<p>Cornell and Princeton both told me that the amount of aid offered ED and Regular is exactly the same. With this in mind, you don't need to worry about colleges taking advantage of you because you ED. </p>
<p>IMO, if you really are low income (less than 40K), most of the Ivies and other top schools offer pretty good aid. My counselor told me not to worry so much because in her experience Cornell and Princeton don't exploit low income students and the students themselves think the aid is fair (Keep in mind this is only for my schools--Don't quote me on this for other schools!!)</p>
<p>Most people agree that many of the schools provide excellent financial aid. But what would they have gotten in financial aid if they could apply elsewhere and compare aid packages. For low and middle income students this is critical and also why some view ED policies as elitist. The rich can apply under these programs without worrying about the financial implications of the choice.</p>
<p>the issue isn't whether the ED school will somehow try to enforce the "contract" the issue is that you may have few if any other options since schools tell other schools whom they accept ED and those school often then stop any consideration of an application from someone accepted ED elsewhere.</p>
<p>you will also undermine the attempt of any future student from your school to apply ED since the signature of your GC will be seen as meaning nothing.</p>
<p>i really have a problem that people seem to want to be able to apply ED to get the advantages it offers, but don't want to commit to the obligations it imposes. re the financial aid situation -- the key is to talk to a rep from the financial aid office of the school before you send in the ED application so that you can have some idea of what to expect from the school if the financial aid matters. if they then don't live up to what they tell you, you have a legitimate reason to back out of the ED (i would think).</p>
<p>but remembe different schools can offer different financial aid packages -- if you want to compare you DONT apply ED. If you are willing to live with what the schools aid will be (and hopefully you do your research to try to get some idea of that) then you can apply ED</p>
<p>you can argue about how fair or unfair ED is. But it is what it is - you should know what it is ahead of time. And it is not fair to try to use ED if you really don't mean to.</p>
<p>they can't force you to go to whatever school you apply ED too. but they can force you to withdraw your applications from every other school. so read the contract carefully. ask admissions officers, most schools will probably let you out for financial reasons anyway.</p>
<p>The best part of ED is to show your sincere interest in that school as your first choice. Unfortunately, the worst part is the unknown financial committment, the possibility of which only the wealthy can entertain. So a student can only show his love/committment/interest in a college if his parents can afford for him to do so. That seems a little unfair to me.</p>
<p>Also, if you apply ED, get in, and then choose not to go, you may have difficulty getting guidance counselor or techer recs for other schools, if the GC or teachers feel you've reneged on your ED contract.<br>
If you apply ED, what is the moticvation to the school to offering you financial aid (merit), since you're supposed to be "obligated" to attend if accepted...?.</p>
<p>people conjecture all the time but do people in fact have horror stories about people getting admittede ED and then getting treated "poorly" in terms of financial aid? i don't mean cases where a student could have gotten more elsewhere - i mean cases where the financial aid isn't even in line with what the student could expect from the financial aid calculators? (yes we all know those numbers often are pretty optimistic with regard to what a family can come up with, but they are numbers a family can know ahead of time and take into account in an ED application decision)</p>
<p>i also know of several schools that insist that they favor ED for merit aid -- do people know for a fact of schools that make this claim and then in fact hold back merit aid from ED candidates?</p>
<p>schools like ED because it makes their yeild numbers look better. if a school had a reputation for leaving ED acceptees high and dry financially, they'd be undermining ED. Are there schools that have developed this reputation? I am not asking for what schools COULD do -- I am trying to get a sense of what REAL info is out there on this.</p>
<p>The point of ED is for colleges to fill in the spots without worrying about who will matriculate. The well known competitive universities are not out to rip you off just because ED is binding and they know you can't back out. Think of it this way: a college who accepts you ED obviously wants you as a permanent spot in the class. Lets hypothetically assume they harass you with horrible aid and flood you with loans. In that situation, you would probably develop a strong sense of hatred to the school and not contribute to it after you graduate; worse, you might transfer after one year because you hate it so much.</p>
<p>The point is to do your research on what students usually get with your income(and other fin. stats). Some schools are pretty generous--you might be surprised. Also, there are schools like Cornell that give you the same aid ED or Regular. If you like their fin offerings, you won't worry able being ripped off even if you do ED. The only thing you need to worry about it whether you really really like the school you ED in or you'll regret it your whole senior year asking yourself, "What if ... ?"</p>
<p>Awesome discussion about ED on this forum.. let me jut in with an EA question. Let's say you were accepted at a school for EA at a top college like yale or stanford. Top colleges share the names of students accepted. So you apply to Harvard regular decision. So Harvard probably got you on that list. Would they be more likely to deny your application or offer you less financial aid?</p>
<p>EA is not binding. Consequently, as far as I know, top colleges do not share lists of students accepted EA.</p>
<p>That's why if financial aid is a problem or if one doesn't want to be locked into one's college choice early, it's a good idea to apply EA or to apply to a college with rolling admission.</p>
<p>An example of how one can get screwed out of financial aid:<br>
my stepfather makes about 50k/year and my mother makes about 50k/year. My stepfather does not support us in any way, shape, or form: but his income would be included in any EFC calculation, making our gross income at 100k/year, plus he has about 500k in investments (inheritance mostly/he's incredibly stingy). An EFC calculator estimated our EFC at 42,400/year, meaning that Cornell would have to pitch in a whopping 2,000/year to meet the 44,400 cost. That said, my mother can't even afford 6k, much less 42k! Basically, I'm SCREWED: <em>Ponders driving them to divorce</em>... I guess I'll be going to a state school...Hello UT-Austin; at least until he dies and leaves us his assets/life insurance...only kidding of course.</p>
<p>I have a question: How easy would it be to establish Independence from your parents, and if possible, how would it affect your financial aid package?</p>
<p>
[quote]
You may be considered an independent student if:
[ul]
[<em>]you are 24 years of age or older;
[</em>]you are married;
[<em>]you are enrolled in a graduate or professional educational program (beyond a bachelors degree);
[</em>]you have legal dependents other than a spouse;
[<em>]you are an orphan or ward of the court (or you were a ward of the court until age 18); or
[</em>]you are a veteran of the U.S. Armed Services.[/ul]
<p>One thing that I haven't seen mentioned: There are lots and lots of additional costs outside of the "price tag" of a college.You will need to outfit your dorm room, buy a computer, calculate cost of trips home when the dorms are closed, etc. Clubs and greek organizations cost money. The limit for a work study job does not cover additional expenses. The reality is that your social life may cost more than you realize- there will be kids with seemingly unlimited credit card access, nice cars, nice clothes, dorm food gets old and you may want to eat out on weekends, on and on. If your family is on such a limited income, why put them under such a financial strain? There are plenty of excellent small schools with nice merit based and financial packages where you could get a free or close to free ride which would be a gift to your family. Additionally, being Asian may work against you- it is no longer an underrepresented minority.</p>
<p>I am applying early decision ONLY because I am IN LOVE with my college of choice (pleeeeeease god) and I am willing to be in debt for the rest of my life to go there. My parents aren't so supportive, meaning they "can't" afford it but really can, so I probably won't get any aid.</p>
<p>I have read this entire thread and am replying quite late in the game. But a friend of ours got into a great school ED no money, they expected alot more not because they cannot afford it but because the dad thought that is too much too pay and they were accepting a bigger FA package. They live in the nicest part of town drive fancy cars and just because you do not want to pay ... Well to cut a long story short, they did get out of ED and the kid is now going to an all expenses paid private university, I guess they did not withdraw all their apps and their private high school GC did what was necessary to make it all happen.</p>
<p>I wonder how that will affect other kids who go to that private HS--from what I've heard from many sources, it may make future HS kids from that school much less attractive candidates for admission.</p>