<p>Hi, My sister is applying to undergrad schools in the US for architecture. And she wants to apply to Tulane ED. She is worried that if she gets into Tulane, she will be forced to attend it whether she gets financial aid or not. Is that the case ? I mean do you have to reject other universities if you get into some university through early decision ? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance for help.</p>
<p>That is correct. If you are accepted to a school ED, you are obligated to withdraw any other applications you've already sent and accept that school's offer, regardless of the financial aid the ED school might or might not eventually extend.</p>
<p>If there is some question of needing financial aid, it is not wise to apply ED.</p>
<p>As you and she will learn, however, there are more and more schools offering Early Action (EA), wherein you apply early and learn your decision early (often by mid-Dec.), but are not obligated to withdraw other applications or accept that school's admission offer. With EA, you can wait until the results of RD (regular decision) are in, along with financial aid offers, before making a choice.</p>
<p>the Dean of Admissions of Tulane does not recommend ED. He recommends EA instead, so you can choose later.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. Btw, what's the difference between ED and EA ?</p>
<p>mootmom, if you can demonstrate that the financial aid packet your ED school does not work for your family, you can get out of the ED agreement. It is the only thing that can get you out.</p>
<p>ED means accepted-->attending (except for fin aid reasons)
EA means accepted-->does not have to attend</p>
<p>There have been several threads on the Parents forum discussing the ED contract and under what circumstances it is possible to "get out": extreme financial hardship usually qualifies. However, by the time you have the financial aid info and could "get out", it may be too late to apply to other schools for that fall (unless you were unethically applying to other schools already, despite an ED application which states that you'll withdraw all other applications upon ED acceptance, and not submit any others).</p>
<p>ED is for someone who knows, without doubt, that there is one school they want to attend, pretty much regardless of any other factors like financial aid. If you're not dead-set on a particular school no matter what, ED is not a wise choice. Apply early to EA schools or wait until the RD round.</p>
<p>Beware that refusing an ED can have reprecussions on your high school's future graduates. Don't apply ED unless you are certain of the school and finances...it wouldn't be worth it.</p>
<p>It is safe to apply ED to a school where fin aid is need-blind..?u will receive fin aid for sure?</p>
<p>Mr. B is right on the money. And, so is mootmom. No one, I repeat NO ONE, should apply ED unless they are fairly certain they can live with a less than stellar financial aid package. Yes, you can "get out" if you absolutely can't afford it, but your version of what you can afford and the schools can be very, very different. ED schools are not stupid: they know that many people try to play the "financial hardship" card to get out of the binding ED committment and they are not buying it as easily or as quickly as they may have in the past. </p>
<p>As mootmom says, you're often going to be stuck holding the bag in terms of admissions to other schools if you try to get out of an ED acceptance. Many of the top schools share their ED acceptance lists with each other, so applying to another school while you're technically in on ED to one school, can get you blacklisted.</p>
<p>Elisa, need blind has nothing to do with the financial aid package you may be offered. All need blind means is that the school will not consider your financial need during the admissions process. There is no guarantee that a need blind school will meet your full need, and, in fact, many need blind schools do not meet the full financial need of their accepted students. For that, you want to look for a school that "guarantees to meet 100% of demonstrated need." Those schools may or may not be need blind but at least if you get in ED, you will know that they do guarantee to meet demonstrated need. (Although they may measure demonstrated need differently than your family does!)</p>
<p>....and the school can "meet 100% of demonstrated need" with different percentages of grants, workstudy, AND loan. Some packages can be very loan heavy (and loans do need to be repaid).</p>
<p>EXCELLENT point Demingy!!! Thanks for jumping in with that, because that is particularly important when weighing whether to apply ED. Yes, the ED school might give you a package that covers your need --- but you can not compare how much that package will cost you to other offers from other schools. </p>
<p>Example: you apply to school A and get a financial aid package of $20,000 - $12,000 in loans, $5,000 in grants, and $3,000 in work study. The "free money" (money you don't have to earn or pay back) you've received is that $5,000 in grants. School B, on the other hand, gives you a $20,000 package as well --- but it is made up of $13,000 in grants and merit money, $5,000 in loans, and $3,000 in work study. The "free money" is worth $13,000 and, all things being equal, is a better financial bargain. You'll have less loans to pay off in the end.</p>
<p>But, applying ED you do not have the opportunity to do this type of comparison and the package you get is the package you get: you would have a hard time arguing that you needed to get out of an ED agreement just because the school offered you too many loans. </p>
<p>So, at the very least, if you're thinking about applying ED to a particular school you should:</p>
<p>(1) find out whether it guarantees to meet 100% of demonstrated need ---and how that demonstrated need will be determined.
(2) find out how the average financial aid package is composed at the school: what's the average amount of debt students end up with? The average merit award? The average grant? Can you live with the "average" in terms of loans and work study?
(3) Ask about ED applicant merit awards --- would your chances of getting merit money actually be better if you were in the RD pool where merit is used to entice top candidates?</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies!</p>