Early Decision=Less Aid?

Paying for College
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<p>I am pondering applying to Penn early decision, but financial aid is a consideration as my parents have four children, one of which is already in college, and the other one will be in college next year. I did the college board calculator and the federal EFC was like 12K, and the instutional was like 8K. Which would absolutely be reasonable to pay. But if i apply early decision would penn give less financial aid, than RD? I ask bc this is a HUGE issue. Do you know if colleges short change ED applicants?</p>

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<p>That is a big question to ask. You hear different things. Colleges deny shortchanging ED applicants, and the reason they would not do so is because it is a big problem when kids start reneging on ED at your school for financial reasons. Schools like Penn that guarantee to meet need are particularly conscious of this, and want to make sure that ED remains sacrosanct. BUT....., and this is a big BUT, when you apply ED, there is little or no doubt that you are going to be going to the school. It is a big pain in the neck for you to ask for release from the ED commitment and list, to be back on the market again. Financial aid directors are hired to make the best deals for a school's yield. Just psychologically, the fact that you are pretty much a sure bet makes it less of an incentive to load up your cart with the goodies. You are pretty much stuck whereas that RD kid that they may really want may need some extra packaging to entice him from other choices. All of this is inherent in the way a Fin Aid officer works. A college like Harvard that has no loans is a different story, because there is no preferential packaging, but even then, the very nature of financial aid officers is to have the money go as far as possible. As a result, from what I have heard, ED packages can be slimmer.</p>

<p>The problem though, is that if you go ED, you cannot compare. You have to take the word of the college that this is a good package for you and that Brown would not be more generous, for instance. To compare, you would have to break the ED contract, let go of the hard won acceptance and put yourself on the market again. If financial aid is an issue, you should not apply ED for that reason. The only leverage you have over the financial aid office is that you will break the ED contract, and that will really hurt you more than them, and can potentially put you to disadvantage with other colleges. Also you would then lose Penn completely for a dice throw. I would not do that.</p>

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<p>Bump, does anyone else know about this? Especially for Penn?</p>

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<p>i'd like to know further as well, anyone?</p>

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<p>I hope someone says something :/</p>

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<p>There really isn't a clear-cut answer because the formulas/policies for awarding financial aid varies from school to school. Your best bet is to contact Penn's SFS and ask them directly what their FA policy is for ED applicants -- and hope they will give you a straight answer.</p>

<p>Here's a link that discusses FA & ED:</p>

<p>Financial</a> Aid and Early Decision - Ask The Dean</p>

<p>In reference to the comment</p>

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<p>I'm not too sure what you mean, but just in case, I wanted to point out that your EFC is definitely not the amount you will be paying for one year of college. </p>

<p>Schools like Penn, that use the CSS Profile and their own financial aid application in addition to the FAFSA, apply their own formulas to determine how they distribute their own funds. Unfortunately, the numbers they come up with can be very different than the EFC on your SAR.</p>

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<p>At a college like Penn, the big questions that come up are how they define need and what packaging of loans, work study and grants they use to meet it. Because they guarantee to meet 100% of the need as they define it. The thing is, kids who apply to Penn and a number of similar schools and get accepted RD often find that there can be a large variance in the amounts and quality of financial aid packages. For such kids, when money is a big issue, they go with the best deal and/or negotiate with the school they want most showing other packages as examples. You can't do that ED. It's game over after ED acceptance. You cannot compare. I am willing to bet that most fin aid officers honestly try to impartially give ED packages as they would RD ones, but there is no way to measure. How can you when there is no basis of comparision?</p>

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<p>I would advise you not to apply ED if you are worried about finances. First off, your EFC is rather low so you can get screwed over big time in financial aid awards if you award is poor. I'm not sure ED means less aid, but I do know that means you cannot compare awards. If I were you I'd hold out for RD.</p>

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<p>I am not sure if there would be a difference in the aid amount between ED and RD applicants. You are at the mercy of the college's decision on the aid amount for the following years anyway. At least for my two daughters (one RD, the other ED) in one of the USNWR top 15 schools, we did not see any difference, and the amount was consistent during the 4 years for the older one who has already graduated. RD would make sense if you want to compare the amount among different schools.</p>

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<p>I agree that if you remotely think that $$ is going to be an issue, than you should not apply ED as the premise behind ED is that in exchange for an Early admission you are committing to come regardless of the cost to you and your family.</p>

<p>One of the biggest drawbacks to applying ED is that you loose the opportunity to compare packages which can cost you money. </p>

<p>I can only talk to how it played out in our house...</p>

<p>During the admissions cycle my D (recent college grad) got accepted to amherst, dartmouth, williams, barnard, tufts, bryn mawr and Mount Holyoke.</p>

<p>In the end, Dartmouth was her first choice but Williams gave a better FA package (we used the Williams offer as the basis of a financial review to get a better offer from Dartmouth). However, the Williams package was not the overall best package, we were just looking at between 2 comprable schools). </p>

<p>Williams gave more grant money,l ess loans ($0), a smaller student contribution, smaller work study obligation, and a smaller parent contribution than Dartmouth. </p>

<p>Dartmouth met Williams' EFC, removed the loans, and met the grant aid. Though out her 4 years at Dartmouth, her financial aid remained pretty conisistent to the point that she graduated with ~ 3k in loans (which she took out Jr. year when she studied abroad in Europe).</p>

<p>Had my D applied ED to Dartmouth and received the exact package that she received RD, she would have graduated with ~ 20k in loans as she would have received loans in her FA package each of the 4 years.</p>

<p>If you can get into Penn, you can may be able to also be admitted to a peer school where you can ask for a financial review and Penn would most likely meet the other school's package.</p>

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<p>alright. i know that with ED you can't compare, but since UPenn is pretty generous to begin with, wouldnt their package be most likely to be the best even if i were to compare packages after RD?</p>

<p>and plus isnt UPenn going with the "no loan policy" soon to all families that need financial aid...</p>

<p>i bet if you ask the financial aid office theyll just claim that getting in ED won't affect your aid package. :/</p>

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<p>Penn states:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Penn offers loan-free packages to students from families with incomes below $60,000, who are determined to have high financial need, substituting grant for what the student would otherwise be expected to cover with student loans. In addition, Penn offers loan-free packages to students who are identified by Admissions as Trustee Leadership Scholars, based on extraordinary academic, leadership and/or extra-curricular experience. </p>

<p>Need</a> based Financial Aid for Prospective Undergraduate Students</p>

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[/quote]
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<p>the average FA package at Pennis 72% grant aid
28% loan/workstudy</p>

<p>no matter what a school's FA policy is the real challege is going to be getting in as for the next couple of years there will be more and more students applying to college (making the process even more competitive)</p>

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<p>Well i guess i am going to apply RD, i just considered ED bc i really want to get into Penn, but i can't put that pressure on my parents. Thanks for the discussion though!</p>

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<p>"In the 2009-2010 academic year, and thereafter, all students eligible for financial aid will receive loan-free packages, regardless of their family's income level. "</p>

<p>2009-2010 academic year as in students who are IN freshman year 09-10 or students who are applying to college in 09-10?</p>

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<p>The policy states that it applies to all Penn students, so freshman and applicants would be included.</p>