<p>In the last 15 years or so, I’ve been seeing an increase in ED to the point that kids in certain school settings feel that they HAVE to apply ED, that it’s a thing to do, to get into a “Hail Mary” pass school or to up their chances to get into some school where the chances are low, sometimes because it’s HPY. Statistically, the chances are better early for most applicants. But not always. And it’s not always a good idea to apply early. It’s easy to get caught in the frenzy and momentum of ED even when it makes no sense. My kids would come home and ask where they should apply ED when they had no idea of where they even wanted to go. Herd mentality. </p>
<p>For families where it matters what the cost of the school is, and where assessing the offers and schools could be valuable, ED is NOT a good idea. ED is when the family has pretty much agreed to make the finances work even if it is not ideal. I’ve seen people jumping to get out of ED with a small or no fin aid package when another school gave a EA acceptance with a great merit package. All of a sudden the reality of the cost of Lehigh at $60K+ doesn’t look so good when prayers are answered with an ED accept when Tulane’s EA accept comes with a half price merit award. Yeah, I’m seeing this right now with some folks—there is time to pull the Lehigh app, but last year and earlier that did not happen and there were problems. Or the SUNY free tuiton offer for top students in STEM sinks in, and BInghamton for just $15K a year and honors college starts looking really good next to the prospect of paying, again that $60K+ at Tufts, Brandeis or Wesleyan. And yes, I’m talking real life cases here. Money doesn’t matter until the reality of it hits a lot of times. </p>
<p>Getting merit money for athletes is tough at D3 schools, as they are bound NOT to give the money for athletic excellence. Do look at the agreement about that. Being at athlete at some of those schools can sometimes be an impediment for merit money due to the fact that the schools do not want to be under scrutiny over this. I say this as a parent of a D3 recruited athlete who got a big $100 a semester in some merit award.</p>
<p>You mention Lehigh in your post. We were offered a minimum of 15K as a merit award there. I think D legitimately would receive a merit award at current college as her stats put her significantly above the 75th percentile. Being strongly urged to apply ED and foregoing merit consideration in order to participate on the team seems like a punishment for having the skill and desire to play at the collegiate level. This is not an issue of using ED to gain admission that may otherwise not be offered. For any of you with the experience, would it be appropriate to contact coach and request that she go to bat for us?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I wasn’t aware that ED application would affect merit offers when I signed the contract and pushed the send button. It is a done deal now.</p>
<p>^ How are you sure the ED app will negatively affect a merit aid offer? I think it won’t. I think the coach will help to push her app to get her MORE merit aid.</p>
<p>ED does NOT always negatively affect a merit award. Some schools out and out state this. Certain awards go to the top students in the applicant pool regardless of whether they are ED or RD However, some merit money is given to some admissions offices to distribute for recruitment purposes. It doesnt’ hurt to ask the Admissions office if ED applicants are equally considered for merit money at any given school. </p>
<p>D3 athletic recruits CANNOT get merit money for athletic reasons. The coach who can bring some clarity to all of this. Financial aid is one thing, merit another. But talk to the coach and find out how it usually works at that school. </p>
<p>Not quite like buying the first car on the left. because presumably the kid knows the college and made a choice. The analogy would be committing to just one dealer that you will buy a silver Lexus xxx, before knowing what, if any, discount you’d get. And had you shopped around, maybe the price from a different dealer would have come in lower. Or, for the right price some other brand choice would be just as happy.</p>
<p>We tend to dismiss ED for folks needing aid, but I think it’s trickier with the first kid, before you have any sense how your details will be viewed. NPCs help. But many of us didn’t have this tool, 5 or so years ago. And when merit is uncertain, you don’t know til the award.</p>
<p>Actually, I’m of the opinion that ED is fine for those kids who need fin aid but not those seeking merit money.</p>
<p>Schools really don’t want ED admits to turn them down because their fin aid isn’t good enough. They definitely do desire to get a 100% yield on their ED admits.</p>
<p>I agree with Purple Titan. In fact, some schools that do NOT guarantee to meet full need, will make that guarantee for ED. But merit is a different story. That can vary from school to school.</p>
<p>We are having a similar issue. Our kid is an athlete and we have applied early action. Now two of the schools are saying that we will get HIGHER merit aid if we switch to early decision. All of this is coming through the coaches who are sending us info from the admissions office. They are saying that they give the best merit aid to the people who give the commitment of applying early decision. But we are confused about this because as others have stated, it makes more sense to give merit aid to people who are deciding between schools, not to people who have committed. (we dont qualify for financial aid, but need the merit aid). Has anyone else been in this position of being offered higher merit aid if they apply early decision? Should we believe that this is real?</p>
<p>I cannot give any advice, nor can most anyone in this regard. My one son was an athletic recruit, and we found that the info the coaches gave was more accurate for his case than the admissions officers. The problem is that general questions get general answers that may not fit specific cases. </p>
<p>We went to an admissions presentation where the officer out and out said that there were no minimum test scores for the school. When we went to visit the coach, he told my son that if he could bring up his test scores 20 points, he could be admitted with just a tip, something the coach was willing to provide, but not an athletic spot as those were sewn up already. This sort of thing came up several times.</p>
<p>You can and should call the admissions office and ask each school if ED applicants are eligible for merit money and if there is a better shot of getting merit ED vs EA/regular or if there is no difference. Though I doubt you will get a break down, do ask if the admissions person can give an approximate idea s to the % of students in those groups getting merit awards.</p>
<p>It truly depends upon the schools whether merit is given for merit’s sake or as a recruitment tool. </p>