<p>Here's a scenario I can see playing out for this fall. I know ED is supposed to be for those who fully expect to be full pay. What do you think of the prospects of ED when the EFC is low (in the 3K range) and there are no extra assets, no second house, about 40K in equity in the primary home. It seems tempting, but it is a profile and non-custodial parent school. As far as profile, we really don't have anything of consequence, just the house and a 401k worth <50K. I don't really know what all profile looks at. We're a one earner household annual income is in the 60-65K range and 5 kids. There is no self-employment, no farming, nothing else to throw a monkey wrench into the formulas.</p>
<p>The student is my stepdaughter, so there is a non-custodial parent. He lives paycheck to paycheck in a manual labor job and has no contact with her for the past 2-3 years, but does pay child support. That will end the day she graduates and he's under no obligation to pay for college, and since he doesn't pay a nickel for her older brother who is a sophomore, there's no reason to think he will pay anything.</p>
<p>The school in question has about a 50-60% admit rate for ED, but closer to 30% RD. If it winds up being her #1 pick, is it worth the chance? She could really use the bump because her scores will likely be low compared to the schools stats, but GPA and Rank will be solid. What do you all think?</p>
<p>Are you sure the school promises to meet need with no loans? It's usually the more selective colleges promising that...</p>
<p>Usually you can get out of ED in good faith if the FA isn't enough and you decide to go to a school that will cost less.</p>
<p>What is the college?</p>
<p>The issue will be her dad. The college will likely bump up your contribution based on that. (It sounds like the equity in your house may fall into the protected amount of assets which is substantial in a 2-parent household.) </p>
<p>Something else to realize... My daughter applied to several full-need/ no loan schools and they almost all estimated our contribution to be higher than the other schools-- but we're only talking $1,500-$2,500 worth of difference. </p>
<p>Honsetly, no school that I know of guarantees to meet your EFC. If you can swing a bit more than your EFC or if you or dd are willing to take out loans if they estimate high (particularly because of her dad), I would do it. </p>
<p>But, before I did anything, I would call the fa office. Tell them she wants to apply ED and this is the deal financially. If you know what her non-custodial dad earns, tell them too.</p>
<p>Remember that, for Profile schools, your "need" is what the college says it is. They get to define it. Assume that you will be expected to pay 3 to 4 times your EFC for freshman year. Can you handle that? If so, then you're probably OK to apply ED. If not, you're taking a big risk.</p>
<p>the deadbeat dad is a complication but probably not
a big one, but your equity and how the profile school
will handle that is an unknown factor. At some of the
top schools you could see your EFC remain in the 3 or
4,000 range - at others it could jump condiserably. It's
a shame there is not a profile/equity list available - that
would really help with your decision. you could of course
jsut ask the school what their policy is</p>
<p>Some schools offer an early read in the fall before you commit to ED, which means you share with the FA office what you have for 2008 up to that point (or even your 2007 returns if they will be close to what 2008 will be), and they make a calculation based on that - if it is doable, you go ED, if not, you take your chances with RD. My D's first choice has that option, and we may be doing that since they take close to 50% of their class ED - we have been asking other schools for their policy as we are visiting them.</p>