<p>My son is a recruited athlete at several D3 LACs (NESCAC). The coaches would like for him to apply ED to shore up the recruitment and in fact, most coaches have told us they cannot use their "tips" for athletes applying regular decision.</p>
<p>I am hesistant to have him apply ED as we will need some FA--I think our estimated EFC is about 25-30K, but am a bit unsure how they will handle our home equity and the fact that my spouse is selfemployed</p>
<p>We will ask the coaches and financial aid folks about this, but I am wondering if any of you have heard of being able to get an early financial aid read prior to apply ED? Our college counselors have suggested that we do this?</p>
<p>Anyone have any experience with this?
Thanks in advance</p>
<p>I would be careful about ED at a D3 as there are no athletic scholarships at this level and the financial aid is take it or leave it when you go ED, with little leverage. You really lose allll bargaining power with this approach. And with your EFC, you might end up with no need based aid and no athletic scholarship at Division III. Are they saying that the team will be filled with all ED students and he won't be able to play if he waits for RD? Or is this a reach that might be a match if applied ED? Not sure I am following this recomendation.</p>
<p>Yes, they fill the team with all ED applicants basically
We have heard this from several colleges and our college counselor at our school
These schools are in the possible-reach category for our son w/o his sport.
With coach support they become matches through the NESCAC tip system</p>
<p>Coaches do not want to "waste" a tip on a kid who will not committ to the school ED</p>
<p>Money is a very real part of the college process. I understand where you are coming from because if accepted ED he must attend and loses the opportunity to compare packages. In addition you are basically saying that you will attend regardless of the package given. So try to go in to this with your eyes open or with much information as possible.</p>
<p>Have you run your numbers through the FA calculators so that you can get an idea of where you stand as far as an EFC? I would recommend using the one on the college board so that you can use both the federal methodology (if it is a FAFSA only school) and the institutional methodology (FAFSA+ CSS profie). If the school you are looking at has a FA calculator, you could look there also. </p>
<p>Ask your self if the calculated EFCs are a major disconnect when it comes down to what you feel you can comfortably afford to pay/ borrow.</p>
<p>While most D3 school do not "give" scholarships, some do however do preferential packaging?</p>
<p>Once you know what your EFC is write down any thing that you feel should be taken into consideration when you talk to the FA counselor (are you helping to take care of an elderly parent, is there unreimbursed medical expenses or other things that you feel the FA office should know about?). You can ask the FA offer to give you a ball park of what you can expect to recieve in aid. </p>
<p>You also want to know if the money you recieve from the school will be tied to your son continuing his sport. What happens if he decides to discontinue the sport or if he gets hurt? You also want to know if the projected package will remain consistent unless there are any major fluxuations in your income/assets.</p>
<p>Sybbie--thanks for the advice
Yes, I know many students at D3 schools playing his sport that do get preferential packaging with regard to financial aid. (less loans more grants)</p>
<p>Our EFC should be about 25-30K (I have used the calculators), but we are looking at schools with a cost of upwards of 45K and they are "need blind" and meet "100% of demonstrated need" I am hopeful this means he would get somewhere between 15 and 20K of help. It would be nice to get a "ballpark" as you suggest so we did feel more comfortable with allowing him to apply ED</p>
<p>I did some searching because I remember a parent specifically stating that she did talk to the FA office about getting a ball park figure before her son applied></p>
<p>Here is her post..</p>
<p>
[quote]
My S wanted to apply ED to Columbia last year. They said they were 100% need. Before he sent in his app, he, his dad (my ex-spouse) and I sat down and came up with a realistic MAXIMUM that we could afford as "EFC"-including loans (student and PLUS), work-study, payment plans, etc. I then called Columbia's FA Office and spoke with a FA officer, whom I gave a rundown of our financial situation, then gave the max figure we came up with, and I was assured S would get enough in aid to leave us with no more than that figure to pay. She also said that if he was accepted and needed more FA, that they were open to working with us on this. He applied ED and was accepted with a good FA package (mostly grants) and the EFC was about $2000 lower that our "max" amount. In the meantime he was lucky enough to also win 3 smallish and one very large outside scholarship, which helped defray expenses even more. This worked out for us, (and we are neither wealthy nor dirt-poor) but with a lot of pre-planning.
<p>I have a d who very much wants to apply ED to a LAC but I am very hestitate to do so as alot depends on the FA package she receives. According to the website a "preliminary package" is given at the time of the ED notification. </p>
<p>Has anyone come across a "preliminary package" and what does that mean?</p>
<p>I'm about to call the FA office to get some verification.</p>
<p>If the applicant is accepted, and the preliminary package is not sufficient, can she decline to attend?</p>
<p>All I know is that with an EFC of $25,000-$30,000 you need to be very careful. In my opinion (having gone through the process) self-employment can really screw you when you actually fill out the forms.</p>
<p>So, I'd say it all depends on how badly the schools want your sons. If they want him badly, it would seem to me that they would wait for RD, but, that is just a guess.</p>
<p>I am told that in our son's sport(ice hockey) this is nearly always the case--that
nearly all the recruits come in ED. We have heard this from his prep school coach, the college coaches and the college counselors</p>
<p>I think the post about Columbia is exceptional because Columbia is known to be very cooperative and receptive to FA situations. We founnd them very rare in our general college ( and ED ) pre-screening . I just wanted to mention it but I do know a girl from my son's school who got preferential ED FA treatment from Yale ( she is a rower ) and also a boy at Hobart - William Smith ( Lacrosse ) . Good luck .</p>
<p>My son was recruited by D1 and D3 schools and received a financial preread from the 3 schools he was most interested in. He applied ED to his top choice and was accepted. The aid package he ultimately received was on target with original preread. As this was An Ivy no athletic scholarship applied.</p>
<p>Son was a D3 recruit and we were able to get an early read from his first choice school prior to applying ED. It ended up being on target, however we are not self-employed. If you have several NESCAC schools interested in your son, and assuming they will do early reads prior to applying, I would find that to be an enviable position to be in.</p>
<p>I don't think that you have nothing to lose in asking for an early read especially if you need one. Think about it, you are talking about a school and and administration that you and your child will have to deal with for the next 4 years. </p>
<p>If you call the FA office now and they give you a run around and are not forthcoming in this the wooing stage, this may not be the place for them. At least one way or the other you will be prepared for what to expect as you don't want to go through the next 4 years feeling that you would rather have root canal or eat glass than to deal with FA office.</p>
<p>"
"If the applicant is accepted, and the preliminary package is not sufficient, can she decline to attend?"
I've heard that you are unhappy with the ED offer you can tell them its a no go. Make sure you don't withdraw the other apps before you get to impasse!(tell them ED school you are not withdrawing while negotiating with them).
BTW, based on my kid's admission to some elite schools a few years ago (she was applying RD) the EFC figures can vary widely(in my case by a factor of 4-5 times). When the low school saw the high (good) numbers from the other school it essentially matched. So they do compete. Which is why ED sucks unless you absolutely have no choice.</p>
<p>^^ EFC should not vary between schools, as that is determined by FAFSA. How the schools make up the difference though will vary (sometimes greatly). CSS Profile is handled differently by all schools.</p>