<p>i know that one of the featured discussions is about this, but my question is a little different. today we had a high school visit from northwestern, and the guy said that if you apply ED and are accepted, only to find that the financial aid they give is too little, you can choose to nullify your ED committment. was he mistaken? did i hear incorrectly? if not, is this true only at northwestern? what is up? thankssss</p>
<p>That's true at all colleges that I'm aware of. The problem is proving that your financial aid is too little. Under the college's aid formula, they may be meeting 100% of your demonstrated need: That may not be what yyour parents feel they can pay. The financial aid package also may include far more in loans than you are willing to pay. It also is likely to be far less than the merit aid you may be able to get at other colleges that give generous merit aid. </p>
<p>Bottom line: If $ is a consideration, then don't apply ED. What you lose in applying ED is the ability to compare offers. If you check on some of the threads on pros and cons of ED, you'll find some parents posting that by not applying ED, their kids were able to compare offers, and some offers were very different from similarly ranked colleges that guarantee to meet 100% of financial aid. Some families also were able to increase their financial aid from their favored school by giving information about better need-based offers from elsewhere.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, if you back out of ED, even for financial reasons, your GC is likely to be ticked off because when you applied, your GC also will have guaranteed that you'd go to the college. The college also may take out their anger by rejecting very qualified students from your school -- to make a statement about how the college feels about people who back out of ED.</p>
<p>If your GC is ticked at you, your GC may not go out of their way to go the distance to help you get other good offers.</p>
<p>At the Northwestern presentation I went to, this one guy kept asking about ED and financial aid. Does Northwestern meet full needs, what happens if his son applies ED and the school doesn't give enough aid, blah blah. The admissions officer seemed kinda annoyed and simply said that if financial aid is that big of a problem, DON'T APPLY ED.</p>