Early Decision

Hi. I’m currently a high school junior and I’m starting to look at colleges. I really want to apply ED for my dream college but I am afraid that they won’t offer enough financial aid (I come from a low-income family so this is a big deal for me). I heard that if a college doesn’t offer enough financial aid then it is reasonable for me to not accept the offer. I was wondering if I would have to withdraw other applications to other schools if this happens.

Try running the Net Price Calculator to see if your FA will be feasible. Although ED is binding, can you back out of the commitment due to financial reasons but if you go into the ED agreement knowing the FA package will not be enough, then you really need to reconsider applying in the first place. If you are accepted ED, you are required to withdraw all other applications but you should know what FA will be available before withdrawing these applications. I highly recommend that if you need to shop around for FA, that applying ED is not a good option.

I don’t think you should apply ED. It limits your options as a low-income student. What would you do if you couldn’t afford the school?

If you KNOW that you cannot afford the school after running the FA calculator, please don’t apply ED. All you’re doing is making yourself feel bad if you get accepted but can’t go, plus taking a spot from someone who wanted to go just as bad as you and can afford to go.

The net price calculator mentioned above is on the school website, usually on the page about affording the college or financial aid. Every college has one, and you should run them at all colleges you are considering, since each college calculates aid differently. Be sure you have a solid list of matches and safeties that are affordable, too. Regarding withdrawing other applications, you don’t do that until you are sure the FA package works for you.

Please listen to the great advice you’ve been given. Run the NPC and see if it looks like you will get the Financial Aid you are hoping for or not. If not, don’t apply ED. If it looks like the college is affordable, then you can apply ED if you want to and if the actual FA is worse than the NPC you can back out of the ED agreement. But if it looks bad, don’t waste your time on that ED application. Also, if you want to compare Financial Aid offers between colleges, then do so in the RD round.

Also, you can run the NPC for the other colleges you are interested in. Some schools are very generous with aid and others are not.

If finances are an issue it is best to not apply anywhere ED so you will have a chance to apply to multiple schools and compare financial offers.