<p>Here is one important tip for those interested in applying Early Decision.</p>
<p>Make sure that your desired college or university will not be too expensive if you get little financial aid.</p>
<p>I applied to a prestigious university Early Decision and was deferred to Regular Decision. In the end, I was glad, in terms of getting rejected and not being in debt. If a school costs around 200,000 for four years, look at your other schools.</p>
<p>If I had to do this process over again, I would have applied Early Decision to another, even more prestigious university that offers generous financial aid.</p>
<p>And remember that prestige of undergraduate schools is not as significant as prestige of graduate, law, medical, and other professional schools. The key is to save money for your doctorate degree.</p>
<p>Also, apply to at least 5 schools if you are a top student. This is just what I think from my admissions experience.</p>
<p>But do note that, if you apply Early Decision and are admitted but don’t receive adequate financial aid, then you can wheedle out of your “binding” ED commitment without penalty. You’re not stuck attending a college that is truly unaffordable.</p>
<p>Of course, “adequate” financial aid means that the college did not come close to meeting your “demonstrated need.” (That’s your Expected Family Contribution subtracted from the overall Cost of Attendance.) “Adequate” does not mean simply what you’d hoped the financial aid folks would cough up.</p>
<p>Once you’ve said, “No thanks” to an ED acceptance for $$$ reasons, the next steps will vary from college to college. Some schools, for instance, will give you the option of getting tossed back into the Regular Decision pool (just like those students who were deferred) but with no promise that you’ll be admitted in the spring or that your financial aid package will be better than (or even as good as) the one you were offered initially. </p>
<p>Other colleges may bid you a permanent adieu if you turn down their ED offer.</p>
<p>So, when you’re a candidate for financial aid and also planning to apply Early Decision, it’s important to go into the ED process knowing what will happen if the aid you’re given isn’t up to snuff.</p>
<p>Yeah you’d better consider how much you pay for 4 years in colleges.
I have a question about my situation: For ED, I plan to apply to UPenn but I know I have little chance to get in there. so should I change into NYU, Chicago, UMich or some well-known Undergrad B-schools ??? My friend told me not to waste the ED, and I’m still considering about it.</p>
I’ve never been particularly fond of that kind of strategizing. If a college is far and away your #1 choice and you’d be THRILLED to turn down the other colleges on your list for it, then by all means, apply ED (assuming you are capable of covering the cost). If you have any doubt about colleges on your list, I really don’t see any point in applying ED to them. It’s that simple. Do you really want to wonder about “what if” you had applied ED to Penn? </p>
<p>For what it’s worth, Michigan and Chicago are both EA/rolling, so you can combine them with Penn ED.</p>
<p>Chicago has Early Action, with a November 1 deadline. But do note that binding “Early Decision” programs usually do provide some boost in the admissions process because colleges are eager to admit sure-thing applicants who will definitely show up in September. EA, on the other hand, can actually be a tougher nut to crack because admissions folks are more wary of saving spots for students who will ultimately enroll elsewhere.</p>
<p>If you have to say “No thanks” to an ED college because your aid is not sufficient, then you are released from your ED commitment without penalty and are free to apply where you wish. In fact, even as you are researching and choosing an “ED” school, you should also be looking for a “financial-aid safety school,” which is a college that will definitely admit you and where you can definitely afford to enroll.</p>
<p>Note, however, that once you are accepted ED and receive an estimated financial aid “package,” you need to decide pronto if you can live with it and inform the college at once. You can’t say “yes” and then start fishing around for a better deal.</p>
<p>It is my feeling that if finances are a question at all, Early Decision is risky. Even if you can “wheedle” out of the binding contract, you might have to scramble to complete other applications and you have “wasted” your Early Decision application. Plenty of schools have Early ACTION which is, in my opinion, the very best of all the options, because it is not binding and, for most schools, you can apply to several EA schools. You hear your acceptance/rejection decision at the same time you would for Early Decision, but you don’t have to accept until May, after all the other RD and EA decisions have come in.</p>
<p>Early Decision can indeed be “risky” for students seeking aid, but only if they’re not prepared for the possibility that they may not get the aid they feel they need and thus must be ready to fire off other applications quickly.</p>
<p>However, if a student is very interested in a college that offers ED, it can be wise to take that route, especially if the college is NOT “need blind.” I’ve seen some students who qualify for a fair amount of aid get into a “need conscious” ED school (with good finaid packages) while similar students with similar need are turned away in the regular round. Because Early Decision tends to provide a boost at decision time, those who require $$$ may have a better shot of getting admitted in the fall than in the regular pool.</p>
<p>Moreover, admitted ED candidates can always walk away if the financial aid isn’t what they require. Yet applicants need to be aware that “What they require” doesn’t necessarily mean “What they want.” Students and parents must use their EFC to gauge how much aid to expect, and if the ED college offers roughly that figure, it’s not appropriate to bail on the binding ED commitment. If, however, the figure is well off the mark, then it’s okay to say, “No thanks” in good conscience.</p>