<p>I am sorry if this question has been asked before,but My husband and I can really use some clarification. My son just applied ED to a school. Are we allowed to wait to see how much the reg decision schools give before breaking the contract (say in the spring) with the ED school if we get more$ from the RDs, Or do we have to break it right away with the ED if the $ is low if we think we can get more $ elsewhere, but have no confirmation of that.
Thanks so much, like everyone we thought things would be different and afr suffering with this nasty economy.
Mindy</p>
<p>You'll need to tell the ED school immediately if you feel you cannot afford the school with the aid offered. Sometimes they may be willing to review your aid application and make some changes that will benefit you, but it's up to them whether they will or not. All you can do is explain why the offer they gave you is not workable.</p>
<p>Do not hold out to compare offers with RD schools. That is a total violation of the ED agreement, and it could cause hardship with your son's other applications as well as with future applicants from his high school.</p>
<p>If you apply ED you are agreeing to go if you can afford it. You can either afford it or you can't. It's not the same thing as saying I'll go if I don't get a better offer from somewhere else.</p>
<p>When my son applied ED last year, we knew that we would come up with as much money as we possibly could from our income, but we would not borrow money. The reason was simple, we can't pay the bills we have already, so we certainly couldn't make payments on a loan too. The money is just not there. Had the offer he received required us to borrow, then we would have said, no, we need to be released from our ED agreement. That said, by applying ED we were knowingly giving up the option to compare offers from multiple schools because we knew we wanted to make his ED school work for him if we could.</p>
<p>So you have to have your own boundaries that are more concrete than "we just don't want to pay that much." Either the offer your son gets from his ED school is within them, or it isn't. If it isn't, then tell them immediately. If it is, then that's great, but it may not be the very best offer he <em>could have</em> gotten... but that's something you relinquish with an ED application.</p>
<p>If you're feeling, now, like an ED application was ill-advised because you want to be able to compare offers, then call the admissions office now and ask for your son's app to be moved to RD.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Are we allowed to wait to see how much the reg decision schools give before breaking the contract (say in the spring) with the ED school if we get more$ from the RDs, Or do we have to break it right away with the ED if the $ is low if we think we can get more $ elsewhere, but have no confirmation of that.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>No, the school will give you a specific date, usually by the end of december which you have to respond as to whether or not you are going to accept the ED application.</p>
<p>ED is based on the premise that in exchange for an early admission, if you are accepted, you will attend. As rentof2 stated, when a student is accepted ED, they are suppose to withdraw all other applications and not make any new ones. </p>
<p>When a family applies ED, they are applying on the premise that regardless of the amount of aid given, if accepted they will attend. One of the things that you do give up when you apply ED is your ability to compare offers. As rent also stated some schools will amend your aid package (this is few and far between) while others will not (why should they have to you have already committed to attend). That said, no school will make you/your child attend a school that you do not want to attend of is unaffordable to you/your family (remember the school also decides what is sufficient aid). Also remember that loans are considered financial aid, so a school can essentially give you a package that is all loans and they have still met your need.</p>
<p>The ED application is signed off by the student the parent and the GC so that all parties are aware of the ramifications of applying ED. Should you break the ED agreement, how some schools take it is varies from school to school. For example, the ivies state that they will not take a student who has been accepted ED somewhere else. Most of the elite schools do exchange information (remember the world of college admissions is very small).</p>
<p>Many GCs will not process any additional paperwork for the student until they receive confirmation from the ED school that the student has been released. I would suggest running your numbers through a series of FA calculators (if the college you are applying to use theirs also) to make a determination as to whether or not you can truly afford this school. If you think it may be a problem when it comes to paying for the college (remember cost increase each year, the student contribution also increases each year) you should change over to RD.</p>
<p>Thanks for the aforementioned replies.They were very helpful. We have decided to stick with our ED and make it work.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son, Mindy. I think all the advice about proceeding carefully with ED applications where there is financial need is very wise and good. I will say, however, our experience with it was just fine. We got a very good financial aid award (and completely in line with what the FA calculator had predicted), our son got into his first choice school and is loving it there, he was relieved of applying to ten other schools he was less interested in attending, and he had that acceptance early which really made his last year at home immeasurably better and less stressful. (And less stressful for us, his parents, because we knew early he got into a school that could give him the necessary FA.)</p>
<p>Almost all his friends that got into their first choice, highly seletive schools applied ED. Two of them needed adjustments to their financial aid awards, and the schools did work with their parents to adjust the aid to a manageable level. (Yes, Sybbie's completely right that this is <em>totally</em> at the school's discretion, but I just want to say it can happen.)</p>
<p>So I hope your son gets his acceptance! And I hope you get sufficient aid, too. :)</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>Are we allowed to wait to see how much the reg decision schools give before breaking the contract (say in the spring) with the ED school if we get more$ from the RDs>></p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Well...unless I've been misinformed...if your son gets accepted ED, he must withdraw all other pending applications and acceptances...so you wouldn't have any applications for admittance or financial aid in the RD round pending.</p>