How long do I have to decline my ED offer if i don’t get enough financial aid?
Students cannot decline an ED offer if they don’t get enough financial aid. Under ED, you commit to the school and it commits to you. The upside of ED is a student gets preferred consideration; the downsize is that they are fully committed to the school regardless of aid.
You contractually commit to the school when you apply ED and must pay whether or not you receive financial aid. Schools will generally allow students to apply for a waiver from this commitment but are very stingy about granting it. Several schools have addressed this at info sessions we’ve attended, and all basically said they will only grant it to a handful of students annually and only in cases where financial circumstances are exceptional, for example a parent’s loss of a job.
Also, by applying ED, a student generally commits to withdrawing all other applications. Since they are committed, it wastes the time of other admission officers to be reviewing an application for a student that already has committed to another school. A school would not be friendly to the idea that a student had gone out and sought a better deal after an ED acceptance.
If you are going to attempt to back out of an ED commitment, I would advise researching what the school says about this and then apply for the waiver under the school rules if that is an option. If the school does agree to let you back out of the commitment, you would then apply to other schools. A limited number will still allow applications. Good luck!
When you received your offer, was there a deadline for accepting the offer and submitting a deposit?
The language on the Common Application states:
And when you apply ED, you don’t withdraw all other applications. You withdraw all other application and agree not to apply anywhere else when you are accepted.
Full language on the Common Application (also check any language on the specific school’s website):
@TTG, It’s not true that students can’t decline an ED offer if they don’t get enough financial aid (see post #3). Students don’t have to apply for a waiver to get out of the ED agreement. They just decline it. Nobody can force a family to pay if they can’t afford it, and it’s up to the family, not the school, to determine if the offer’s affordable.
OP, Your acceptance should have a deadline on it. If you don’t get enough aid, decline the offer and let them know why. Do NOT pull any other apps unless you decide the ED school is affordable.
@TTG, that’s not really correct. No college can force a kid to attend if they can’t make the finances work. There are always a couple of ED agreements that fall through because of finances. If it is truly a financial issue, the high schools will also be made aware and not be blacklisted. ED is binding,but not if it literally can’t be paid for.
@austinmshauri Yes, but the deadline is for making the deposit I think. What I have read is that if your school’s financial package doesn’t meets your EFC, you can appeal or reject the ED offer, but you have to do it promptly. I want to know what exactly is considered as ‘promptly’?
Dates vary by school. Contact yours and ask them. Not all families can afford to pay their EFC. If your family is one of those and your parents determine the school isn’t affordable for all 4 years (whether the offer meets your EFC or not), decline it.
Would it be weird if I ask them this before applying ED to their school?
You could call and ask how long families usually have to make a decision. I think acceptances contain deadlines, so you’ll know. But it wouldn’t hurt to ask if you can’t find the info online.
Okay, I will, and thank you for your help!
OP, I saw that you have posted in other threads that you are waiting for RD decisions. Were you accepted at an ED school?
@suzy100 No, I was not. Actually, I was just contemplating about changing my Colgate admissions from RD to ED ,but I read somewhere that it is often that Colgate lacks in the financial aid department, so I made this post to inquire about the possibility to back out if not given enough financial aid.
Actually, I am still not sure if I should do that. You will very soon see a new thread regarding this dilemma. Feel free to comment there.
Early Action you are not locked.
Early Decision you are locked.
If you apply early decision you must enroll if they accept you.
The only way out is by speaking to them and proving with your parent’s financial papers that truthfully you cannot afford their offer. This looks real bad for the student with admissions to other schools.
It has been said by some that certain schools can get you blacklisted from sister schools that are connected. In the worse case, it may require the student to take a gap year because the other choices of schools might not accept someone for breaking their agreement.
Take all this with a grain of salt as this is all what I’ve read on these forums and I have no proof of any of it.
Feel free to correct any of this if you know for a fact that these things are wrong.
Your other posts indicate that you’re an international student who needs financial aid. I wouldn’t ED anywhere if that’s the case. You’ll need to compare offers.
@reformedman a school will not be blacklisted by any college or affiliated colleges if the finances won’t work out. ED is binding, but sometime students can’t make the money work. There are unexpected issues that arise: illness, job loss, death of a breadwinner, etc… The vast majority of students accepted ED attend. Financial issues are the only exception to ED agreements.
@austinmshauri But that’s the reason I think I should apply ED. From what I have read, schools are reluctant to give huge financial packages to internationals in RD to protect their yield, and the schools that are need blind are already too competitive. I was thinking that if I apply ED to Colgate, there will be a high chance I can be accepted with my stats. I will do this because my chances at other schools like Swarthmore, Colby, Bucknell, Middlebury, Trinity, Skidmore are low because of my high financial aid requirement and other schools like Amherst, Princeton, Yale, Duke are already too hard to get in disregarding my condition, so if I apply ED to Colgate, I will have a greater chance of getting accepted, or else I will very little chance of getting accepted anywhere.
If I do get accepted to Colgate, there will be two possibilities:
- I get accepted with enough financial aid, and I go to Colgate.
- I don’t get enough financial aid and come out of my ED offer. Then I will still have all my other colleges, which have little chance for me to get in, to rely on.
Why will I need to compare offers, if I get enough aid to attend in ED, and if not I can just get out?
This is what I think right now, but I am still reluctant to apply because no matter how small the chance, I still have a shot at those colleges. What should you think I should do?
Colleges can’t force students to enroll or make a family pay. Where did you get the idea that families have to prove they can’t pay? Not true. All the family has to do is decline the offer.
OP, how much can your parents pay per year? Does Colgate meet need for internationals?
Yes, Colgate is need-aware for internationals and states that it meets 100% need if accepted. They can pay around $10,000 per year.