Early Decision questions?

Applying to College Admission Stories
1

So these may be very stupid questions, but I really need a clear answer on them, in regard to early decisions.

1). If I apply to a school through the early decisions program, and the financial aid offered to me is not as high as I would like it to be, but it is the average financial aid package for the school, do I have to attend? Or can I decline their offer and not attend?

  1. do I have a better chance of getting high financial aid in early decisions (since they “have” more money to “give away”) or in general admissions (since I may seem more competitive)?

3). Is there a better chance of getting accepted in early decisions versus general admission?

  1. if I am deferred at a school from the early decisions, does this mean that I most likely won’t get accepted at all?
2

  1. Fin. aid is the only reason the ED agreement can be broken, as per what is said on the Common App.

  2. I think they prefer to give more aid to RD applicants, I don’t remember why.

  3. Yes in theory, as the acceptance rates are higher for ED vs RD, but you have to remember that the ED pool is also much more competitive as a lot of the best applicants apply ED.

  4. Not necessarily. Many schools have percentages of deferred students enrolled in the school they were deferred from originally. I believe that for most schools, the deferred acceptance rate is the same as the RD acceptance rate.

Good luck.

3

Re: 1 & 2 - if the school does not give any merit aid, but only considers financial need, then it is unlikely applying ED vs RD will make any difference in the amount of aid offered.

Likewise, while you can turn down an ED acceptance if financially it won’t work out, you should not have a totally unrealistic expectation of the possible aid you will receive. You should have a good idea before you apply what the financial aid policy of the school is.