<p>We’ve had some lively discussions on this board about ED. I’ll tell you straight out that I am not a proponent of ED for those students who are from families who are asking for financial aid, and for whom cost is an issue. I suggest that you look for some of the thread and read the arguments.</p>
<p>It’s easy to say that if you can’t afford the cost, you can just turn down the offer, but to me, the term “afford” is often a fuzzy one. For a family whose budget is very tight, the differences between other offers and the ED one could be substantial, but they are not going to know this when they are looking at the one package in a vacuum. A family for whom making the numbers work is going to be very difficult, is stuck between giving up this bird in hand that may well be the best that will happen for that type of school or just somehow making it work, with a very painful “somehow”. </p>
<p>Two very respected veteran members of this board whose children have gone through the selective school process have reported that there can be huge differences in financial aid packages among schools that say the use the same methodology and are peer schools. They also report that by bringing up differences in the awards, schools will sometimes ante up more. When you are talking about differences in like schools all that say they meet full need that can come up to $10K in cost differentials, that’s more than $40K a year which is a big difference in the life of some families. </p>
<p>There have been some cases where the situation has been carefully studied and a lot of prep work has been done, and a dollar amount decided upon for a school that is clearly a first choice. One dad who did such research, came to the conclusion that CMU was by far the best school for his son, and by asking for their pre read, and learning about their financial aid policies (CMU is not a full need guaranteed school EXCEPT for ED applicants), this parent after reading about the drawbacks and pitfalls, came to the conclusion that if his son got into CMU ED and the cost was under $X, it would be worth it for him to go there, never mind that he might get more elsewhere or even more from CMU with offers to compare. That parent knew what he was going into and made that decision understanding that he might be giving up money, but that it was going to be worth it to him, as long as the cost was below $X.</p>
<p>So if a family can come to a point as the Dad above, ED may be a way to go even if you do need financial aid. If your family is set on a certain amount that is doable and understands that it may not be the optimal package, but getting the early admit is where the cost is, that 's one thing. Many families do not operate that way.</p>
<p>You have to understand that meeting full need means different ways of handling Stafford loans, work study and other self help, and even PELL. There may be mandatory student contributions, and the treatment of outside scholarships may come into play. When every one undestands that the only criterion that is important is that the $X price point is met, and that the student will decline an ED offer if the cost falls over that price, then ED might be a way to go.</p>
<p>I don’t like it because most of us, myself included, have a hard time making these decisions without a comparative basis. It would be about impossible for me to let go of an ED offer with my kid’s puppy dog eyes looking at me and the push to end the whole process right there, even if the cost is really more than what I should be paying. The whole momentum of the process would be too much for me, and for most kids, I daresay. For those parents who have the discipline to stand firm and have budgets that can be so reduced to a dollar figure, it’s one thing. For others of us, I don’t think ED s a good idea.</p>