<p>I want to ED to Cornell, but my parents recently read an article saying that ED is bad because they supposedly offer less financial aid, is this true?</p>
<p>Cornell offers need-based aid only, which means it will be determined based on your and your parents income and assets. The school will have a formula it applies to the specific financial situation of each accepted student applying for aid. They don't have one formula for ED applicants and a different one for RD.</p>
<p>The problem is that ED is a binding agreement to attend and not apply elsewhere, so you will not be able to compare Cornell's offer with offers you might get from other schools. Other schools, even the ones that only offer need-based aid, don't necessarily use the same formula, so offers may differ widely.</p>
<p>Also even comparing schools that meet 100% of need, how much of the award will be in the form of loans? How much in work-study? Ideally you want loans to be smaller and grant aid (doesn't need to be paid back) to be larger. But how can you compare if you only apply to one school?</p>
<p>So... it's not that the aid will be less necessarily, but that you won't be able to see how it compares to other offers, including the offers of other schools that might offer merit aid in addition to need-based aid.</p>
<p>If Cornell offered you a certain package as a RD accepted student, and a peer school offered you something better, you could always go back to Cornell and see if they would match that offer, and in that case you may get something better than they first packaged for you. (This is something that must be approached delicately because they all say they don't like haggling, but that's for another thread.)</p>
<p>I am not one that maintains that all students with financial need should never apply ED, but the conditions where it can make sense are pretty narrow, and when loans are part of the picture it's usually not a good idea unless they'll promise to cap them at some low level you're willing to accept outright. Not sure Cornell does that, but the first thing you should do is research Cornell's aid policy <em>thoroughly</em> before you go any farther. Once you know more, then you and your parents will be discussing things from a more informed position. And... it is their money after all, I'm assuming.</p>
<p>I think there will be 2 factors students will have to consider before applying ED:</p>
<ol>
<li> the FA package the school wil give. Remember that there are probably less than 20 schools in the country that are need blind, meet 100% demonstrated need and have eliminated loans. These schools are probably amongst the most competitive schools in which to gain admission.</li>
</ol>
<p>The other half of the coin will be whether or not parents will be able to comfortably write their check to cover the EFC. I think here lies the rub because there was a conventional wisdom that you did not necessarily have to have the the amount of your EFC lying in the bank, you could borrow it through a plus, HELOC, home equity loans etc. With the down turn in the economy, many of these options will now be closed off to families.</p>
<p>It is now more important than ever for families to have the $$ talk. In the past the conversation may have been more along the lines of be how much were your parents willing to pay or borrow for your education. Now that there will be considerably less borrowing, it wil be a matte rof how much can your family comfortably afford to pay and still have $$ for a rainy day?</p>
<p>i'm in the exact same situation, considering ED cornell and worried about finances. Cornell says it caps loans at $3000 for people earning less than $120k/year. Is this regardless of home equity/savings? Is there any way for a person to find out how much they would have to approximately pay at a top 15 college like cornell?</p>
<p>Alex, the only reliable source of information on this is the Cornell financial aid department. Perhaps you, or you with a parent on the other phone, should call and discuss the loan cap, and also on how they deal with home equity as it relates to income.</p>