I’m hoping to apply to GW early decision, I truly cannot picture myself going to any other school but it. My parents, however, want to make sure I’ll receive merit aid that I’d normally receive as a RD applicant. My gpa is a 91 with 7 APs in addition to honors courses, I have a 31 ACT and I’d say I have some extremely strong EC’s, most of them involving community service with leadership positions. ED, for me, seems to be a no brainer because of my commitment to the school, among other things. I won’t be receiving any sort of need-based financial aid, but do you think my chances of getting a scholarship ED are within a similar range to that of RD? If not, is the chance of any aid still there?
@anneNH
Anne while no one can predict the chances of admission, you are a solid candidate for admission to GW. It is also very possible that you will get merit aid. GW’s merit aid is not the greatest. So be prepared to pay almost full fee. If money is important do not apply ED but RD, so you entice GW to offer you a scholarship to get you in there. This way you may also explore other options where you may get better merit aid. There is a list of colleges on CC that offer almost 100% merit aid. Perhaps you may look at it to see if any of them interest you.
If it is GW that you want then be prepared to pay… 
Hello, we struggled with the same question. My son had a similar profile to yours ( 7 APs, 31 ACT, 4.19 GPA, strong ECs and a powerful essay). He applied ED2 due to personal circumstances. He did receive a Presidential Merit award; however, what I read on CC during the RD acceptance period indicated that the RD awards were usually about $5,000/yr higher. It could have just been who wrote in. There may have been awards identical to his. Regardless, we were very grateful for the financial support because he did not qualify for need based aid.
@wenronian
How much is the Presidential merit award, 25K/year?
they range. People have written that they have received 10K, 12K, 15K, 20K and 25K.
@wenronian
In most private colleges that is the usual range anywhere from 5K to 25K. I have seen it go as high as 30K at Case Western and U of R rarely. But that is the range, I agree.