<p>Well my G.P.A. is near a 3.3, it’s being recalculated while I’m trying to get numerical records from my old school which they did not use and it’s just a complex story from start to finish. My test scores are mediocre and I plan on increasing them to Vanderbilt’s level by really studying. I haven’t been able to take many A.P. classes(only have 1 so far) due to them not being offered at my school nor have I ever heard of self studying A.P.'s until joining CC which was the middle of my junior year(this year). But next year I plan on taking 8 community college classes due to seniors getting free books and tuition for the PSEO program. Otherwise my school is way too small to have clubs, sports, A.P. classes, and etc… My school has been running since 2002 with 230 students at the most I believe and I don’t think there has ever been a student who was accepted to even a top 30 school. This is also in Columbus, OH, which I must say has one of the worst education systems in the nation. If I went to a regular public high school, I think I would get shot and not learn a single thing at the same time. I’m also Asian(Indian) if that helps.</p>
<p>EDIT:Forgot to mention that I was also planning on trying to get an internship in biomedical engineering(my intended major) at OSU and that I’ve worked on 2 projects that were podcasts for 2 major Ohio museums and I’ve accumulated over 500 hours of community service and it’ll probably up to about over 700 by the end of senior year.</p>
Your counselor is quite certain to know where you have applied. The college you stood up can ask where else you have applied and let the other schools know you’re breaking your ED agreement. Quite often the consequence will be the other schools will revoke your admission.
And I have heard several reports of ED colleges that are spurned in turn refusing to work with the HS for years afterward. Its one of the few levers they have; if the counselors aren’t going to play their role of ensuring students are following the rules, then the college is acting quite reasonably by deciding to work with counselors who will. The system is based on trust and acting professionally. Colleges need to know that counselors are communicating with them accurately and honestly, and vice versa. You can be sure that a college that lies to a HS counselor will find students at that school steered away from it for years to come (and probably at every other HS that counselor talks with).</p>
<p>Broken record time again (do kids today know what that means?), but to be sure people understand:</p>
<p>Declining an ED FA offer at the time it is made (e.g., in December, because the FA is insufficient to allow attendance) is not breaking the ED commitment. Doing so later (e.g., in May, because a better offer was–dishonestly–received) is a violation, subject to sanction.</p>
<p>So why wouldn’t a student apply ED if they could back out if Sufficient FA is not givn? I understand somewhere like Vandy which does not have a deferral option. </p>
<p>Also, is it true that most schools ED apllicant pool is more competitive? I might apply ED somewhere if I fall in love with it, because they typically have higher acceptance rates, except somewhere such as Georgetown which uses the previous years rate to admit their EA class.</p>
<p>^ ED is “intended” to be used when there is that one dream school above all others, where a student will attend if there is any way financially (or otherwise) possible; I think needy students should apply ED to such dream schools. But if you decline the ED FA offer, you don’t get another chance at the school. If you want to compare FA offers, do not apply ED.</p>
<p>At our D’s LAC, 50% are admitted at ED time, 33% at RD time, but I think self-selection is the main issue for ED, not necessarily more competitive applicants.</p>
<p>You know, I still struggle with this. If I use the calculators then our family contribution is at the very tippy top of what we can afford. We have no clue what the school will package up. My son would be a strong candidate but not a shoe-in. The school is his first choice. If the school cannot be transparent about how they will fulfill the aid package (and most aren’t) then I feel there is no harm, no foul to turn the school’s ED offer down if they fail to put a good package together. I think this whole ED thing feels slightly “shady” to have them say, you must attend without knowing what the cost will be. Otherwise ED should be stipulated only for full pay students and there would be a formal contract with an airtight “out” clause. The way it’s worded right now I think it clearly says that a student can say “thanks but no thanks.” I think I will let S2 do this. His second choice school is an out of state public with rolling admission and there is clearly no “gaming” the system with my son. His apps will be done in the fall because of the rolling admissions schools. It is simply a matter of first choice school and second choice school and him preferring not to have to sit around waiting for April which I can totally understand. If a kid applys ED the kid is saying “this is my first choice school”…what more do the schools want? Give us your offer and we’ll tell you if we can accept it. It’s a shame these schools can’t do rolling admission and just defer the kids if the school is uncertain if they want the student. Seems less “muddy.” I don’t remember ED back when I was applying to schools but I’m not a fan I guess and it really puts the kid between a rock and a hard place.</p>
<p>I wanted to say a couple of things. First, early decision is binding and it makes me really mad to hear that some students don’t honor this contract, except in the case of finances. The only reason I have ever heard of a student being released from an early decision contract is when the financial aid package offered isn’t enough for the family to afford the school. I think most colleges who offer early decision have this policy.</p>
<p>Early decision does help you get accepted. My daughter’s first choice school filled up half their class from the early decision applicants. They don’t relax the standards but this school gets way more qualified applicants than they can accept so the odds are better for those applying early decision.</p>
<p>If you are really low income then you can expect to get a lot of aid from any of the top schools if you get in, so you can apply early decision knowing that your financial aid package will be close to a free ride.</p>
<p>But if you are in the middle class it is much harder to tell how much aid you can expect, or maybe it is just hard to realize that you might get little to none. That was our situation, we simply couldn’t afford the sticker price at a private school but it was looking more and more like we qualified for no need based assistance. We needed to be able to compare financial aid packages from schools that my daughter was accepted to so she didn’t apply early decision anywhere.</p>
<p>Don’t disagree - ED should only be for full pay students and not open to students that require finaid other than a Stafford. That seems fair. The college can “decide” how many full pay kids they need right off the get go - everyone else goes into a regular decision pool on equal ground for finaid or an EA period that is clearly not binding. Under the current system I think kids should be able to apply ED to what would clearly be their first choice college, and be able to decline the offer if it is not doable without any fear of repercussion. That seems clean also. I’m on Vossron’s side of the interpretation of the language, if the package is not doable one declines at the time the offer is presented and moves on. I could even see there being a time constraint to sign and accept the offer or decline which becomes binding. But to require a “binding” decision without knowledge of the future cost doesn’t feel like it would stand up in a court of law. It’s also not set up as a “bid” system whereby the “purchasers/future students” make an offer of what they are willing to pay and the college either accepts or counters the offer. Right now it doesn’t feel like any kind of legally enforceable agreement and leaves people feeling unsure if ED is actually a legal agreement, including me, and judging by all the threads discussing the pros and cons of ED. Clearly if you need to compare finaid offers, clearly if you are on a fishing expedition for the lowest cost you don’t apply ED and clearly you don’t accept in December and decline in April…</p>
<p>Aside from the argument over ED being shady or not, will a college send me a preliminary financial aid “preview” for sure? And if I can’t afford it can I still appeal for more financial aid and if it still doesn’t turn out that I can afford it can I turn down the acceptance? I really hate that ED favors the rich kids who can actually afford to pay it in full when kids with families like me have to worry about more things when it comes to getting in to their dream school.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t think you will get concensus on this topic. I’ve been reading for a couple years and still don’t know what to make of “ED.” Fortunately it wasn’t a factor for my oldest son and his first choice school was full pay for us. Son two is looking east where the privates are more expensive and “above” our budget and his first choice has EDI and no EA. Some people think that it’s a no-no to turn down an ED acceptance even immediately and others think it’s OK if the finances don’t work out to turn down an ED offer as long as you don’t wait until April. I definitely would say to kids that you should/could discuss with your parents and guidance office to get a read on what it means to them and how they feel about your line of thought for your particular case. At the very least run the calculators to get an idea of what your “need” is.</p>
<p>Voss: yes I agree with you on the interpretation and decided in our family that is how we will proceed – with the understanding that we will decline if necessary. For us, it is clear cut…the available web calculators (the school does not recommend nor have one on their site) is very close to what we are willing and able to pay but there is a gap between that number and the schools stated costs. We don’t do parent loans, period. We can afford the #2 choice school which is an out of state public with rolling admission, we will utilize the ED since it is a first choice and decline if they determine we have no need. Everyone’s case is different and I hesitate to support any decision other than our own. I still think the process is murky at best and I feel sorry for the kids.</p>
<p>What if you don’t qualify for financial aid because both of teh parents are remarried (and the other parents has assets but won’t or can’t contribute that much to the education?) and you still have maybe $25k left to pay each year after any merit you might be awarded?</p>
<p>Then don’t apply ED. Make sure you also are applying to some safety schools – that you can afford, know you’ll get accepted to, and would enjoy attending.</p>
<p>You just don’t apply ED because to maximize your merit opportunities, you need to be able to compare offers from a variety of colleges. You don’t need to tell that college anything. You do need to find SAFETY schools that you love and can afford. You do not need to fall in love with any “dream school”.</p>