I was accepted to CMU ED, and seriously planned to attend…UNTIL I recently received my financial aid package. Knowing that there was a slight chance that I would get no financial aid at all (which I didn’t), I did not withdraw my app to UC Berkeley, which I got into.
With no financial aid from CMU, it would be a HUGE burden on my family if I actually ended up paying full tuition (68k+). Is this valid enough a reason for me to request a break from my ED agreement to attend a state school ($28k)?
I already paid the deposit for CMU, but just recently received the final official financial aid package.
Don’t understand why you never got the aid package earlier…that doesn’t make sense. You broke the ED rules by not withdrawing the other application. You could possibly lose both spots AND have your high school furious with you. If you knew the financial aid package could be a deal-breaker, then you needed to aggressively get your package from CMU in January. Not in April. By committing to a school during the early decision round, you get a bump in your chances for admission. In return for that increased chance, you can’t continue to apply to other schools or keep current applications open. You violated the ED agreement knowingly.
Well at this point what’s done is done whether there is intent or not it does not matter. CMU cannot technically force you to attend and pay for 68k. Your high school will probably be mad because of their reputation will be ruined in the eyes of CMU, but what can you do? I’d say at this point just move on to UCB. And no you probably will not be blacklisted (if you mean for grad school) but your high school may be for CMU in the future.
@desie1 The OP waited for his/her final aid offer, which may have come late due to a delayed processing of materials. Either way, @humanoid2015 , this isn’t good.
From the National Association for College Admission Counseling Statement of Principles of Good Practice:
“Early Decision (ED) is the application process in which students make a commitment to a first-choice institution where, if admitted, they definitely will
enroll. While pursuing admission under an Early Decision plan, students may apply to other institutions, but may have only one Early Decision application pending at
any time. Should a student who applies for financial aid not be offered an award that makes attendance possible, the student may decline the offer of admission and
be released from the Early Decision commitment. The institution must notify the applicant of the decision within a reasonable and clearly stated period of time after the
Early Decision deadline. Usually, a nonrefundable deposit must be made well in advance of May 1. The institution will respond to an application for financial aid at or
near the time of an offer of admission. Institutions with Early Decision plans may restrict students from applying to other early plans. Institutions will clearly articulate
their specific policies in their Early Decision agreement.”
And from another source:
“If you are accepted under an Early Decision plan, you must promptly withdraw the applications submitted to other colleges and universities and make no
additional applications to any other university in any country. If you are an Early Decision candidate and are seeking financial aid, you need not withdraw other
applications until you have received notification about financial aid from the admitting Early Decision institution.”
I don’t know how ideal your tentative/initial financial aid offer was, but you should’ve made the decision to explain the circumstances back then. Because it’s so late in the game, there’s no possible way you should’ve been accepted to any other big university under the ED agreement, and explaining your UC Berkeley situation will be rough. It’s a Take-It-or-Leave-It situation now. Either option is a bad hand.
The OP did say " the final official financial aid package". I know when my S did ED (elsewhere) last year we got a tentative offer right away and then received the final offer later. Perhaps this is what the OP meant. In our case, they didn’t differ by much at all.
I’m really confused by the OP’s comments. Carnegie Mellon only has one cycle of Early Decision with a notification date of December 15th. I have a hard time comprehending that the OP wouldn’t know where they stood with Carnegie Mellon regarding FA until very recently. That’s 4 months. I’m sure they must have given an indication of aid some time ago.