<p>So if you apply ED you find out your "preliminary award when accepted" does this prelim award usually change much after the fafsa and stuff is submitted? What happens if it changes and you aren't offered as much as you thought you would be and then you can't afford to go to your school but you already withdrew all your other apps? I'm scared and I would love to apply ED somewhere but i feel like it is really only an option for the wealthy, even for schools with policies of 100% met need they can always screw you over.</p>
<p>There are generally ways to get out of ED commitments if your financial need is not met, but you will see advice up, down, and sideways that it is a VERY bad idea, for precisely the reasons you are describing, to apply ED if paying for it is going to be an issue. Yes, in many ways it does function as mainly for the wealthy–which is why some schools are now eliminating it, as a way of encouraging and supporting a more economically diverse student body.</p>
<p>I’m not in the camp to say it never makes sense to apply ED if you have financial need, but I would say if you are asking yourself things like “if it changes” when referring to your family’s financial information, it’s probably a bad idea for you to apply ED. If you can not very reliably predict your income and submit your initial financial aid applications with very reliable numbers… then no, don’t apply ED.</p>
<p>When you apply ED, the deadlines are such for financial information that the year is not yet done, since the paperwork has to be submitted by November, in many cases. That is understood to be an estimate of the financial picture, and the award you get is an estimate also. Actually a lot of RD applicants also complete FAFSA and PROFILE before their tax forms are completed and so are using estimated information as well. </p>
<p>So when the schools get your ACTUAL numbers as reported on the returns, they DO make adjustments especially if the numbers are way off. That is something anyone should expect. But if you get less in aid, that means you got more or had more else where. If your ED Financial aid package is so tight that ANY less could sink your family, you should not take it, because absolutely yes, if those numbers are off due to estimate, you could get less aid, and the way ED works you don’t have other schools on the table anymore because you are supposed to let them know you have accepted an ED offer when you do, and rescind your applications. It is a violation of the ED contract you sign not to do this. But when you do, you have few other options since you’ve retracted all of your other apps, or not sent out any. </p>
<p>That is a drawback of ED. I personally believe that those who need/want financial aid and are on the edge financially should not be applying ED, because of this, and because you can get a package in isolation so you have no idea what you could be getting. The impetus and momentum to take it is enormous.</p>