FinAid Applicants: Have you been warned away from Early Decision?

Paying for College
1

<p>Are YOU a high-need student who has been told that Early Decision is not for you because of your financial aid requirements?</p>

<p>High school seniors who have high need are often deterred from applying to a top-choice college via Early Decision. They are told that students in their situation should wait until the Regular Decision round in order to compare aid offers.</p>

<p>While this advice is indeed valid for some families (e.g., those with a high EFC who are depending on merit scholarships to meet college costs or for ANY finaid applicant aiming at colleges that don't provide great aid), for high-need students who are shooting for private, need-conscious colleges that meet all (or most) of demonstrated need, Early Decision can actually be the right choice.</p>

<p>Many of these colleges are more likely to admit a student with high need who has demonstrated eagerness to attend via an ED application rather than a comparable Regular Decision applicant who could end up enrolling elsewhere. </p>

<p>Although financial aid applicants might not get their absolute best scholarship from the ED college, they may get an offer that is good enough to allow matriculation at a dream school … a school that might say Yes at ED time but No in the Regular Decision round. </p>

<p>And, remember, ED applicants who are accepted but without adequate aid can wiggle out of the “binding” commitment without penalty.</p>

<p>So if you are a high-need student, don’t assume that an Early Decision application to a favorite college is off limits for you.</p>

2

<p>Schools that allow ED are generally private & require PROFILE, Amirite?
So what the family can afford, may still be less than what the school expects them to pay.</p>

<p>I agree schools like to know that they are a students first choice, but that can be shown through visits & essays.</p>

3

<p>

However, ED applicants are required to withdraw all other applications if accepted by ED; the applicants may be too late to apply to other schools.</p>

<p>

The applicants should apply ED to a school that meet the financial needs of students 100%</p>

4

<p>

</p>

<p>Students who need aid and who are considering ED should use a Net Price Calculator to see if their anticipated aid award is at least in the right ballpark. Ideally, too, they can get an “early read” (which will be just approximate) from the financial aid office, since NPC’s are still in their infancy and can be off kilter, especially for families with extenuating circumstances (which means many families these days). If the family’s perceived need and the predicted EFC are way out of whack, then ED is probably a bad idea.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>True, but this doesn’t carry nearly the same clout as an ED application when it comes to boosting admission odds for high-need students at need-conscious colleges with good aid. These schools tend to be more generous with ED applicants than with RD applicants … and by “generous” I’m not just talking about money but also about the acceptance itself. A high-need student who is a borderline applicant is much more likely to be accepted in the early round than in the regular round. Yes, of course, borderline students with high need do get admitted RD. But if a finaid student has a “dream college” but fears that it might be a slight reach, ED may be the way to go, even though the guidance counselor (or friends, CC members, etc.) may be saying “ED isn’t for aid applicants.”</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>An ED applicant can wait until he or she decides to accept the ED offer (or not) before withdrawing other applications. Granted, time is of the essence. A typical ED I student receives a decision in mid-December, along with a tentative aid package. The student then has about a month to appeal the offer, if it’s insufficient, despite the intervening holidays. And, if the appeal isn’t successful, the student must then notify the ED school right away. However, if the student IS able to accept the ED offer, the other apps must be withdrawn. All of this happens by mid-Jan. for ED 1. </p>

<p>Obviously, if an ED aid appeal is still in progress when January RD applications are due, the student MUST honor those deadlines and apply elsewhere, even if the appeal seems to be going pretty well. Then, if the student does accept the ED offer, the student must promptly withdraw the applications. If this all happens right after the apps were submitted and probably haven’t even been touched, I’d recommend begging to get the fees back, but it could be an uphill battle.</p>

<p>If a student turns down an ED offer due to insufficient funding, it’s important to know whether he or she will then be re-considered during the RD round or if it’s Game Over at that college. This question should be asked at the START of the ED process, not after the verdict has been handed down. Occasionally students are admitted ED but must refuse the offer due to poor aid. But then, come spring, if the student has been reconsidered and readmitted via RD, this student may end up accepting the offer anyway … crummy aid and all. It doesn’t happen a lot, but it DOES happen, so it’s important to know in advance what a college policy is in regard to ED offers that are refused. </p>

<p>Moreover, I have heard of students who are admitted via ED, who then say no due to money issues, who get reconsidered in the RD round, and then NOT reaccepted. Crazy and confusing, eh?</p>

6

<p>I don’t think that Sally’s post here is actually untrue, but I do think it has some important caveats and qualifiers that, I fear, eager and unsophisticated college applicants might overlook.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>This omits a lot of colleges and universities.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Is this, however, what students with need ought to be shooting for? Or should students with genuine financial need who are contemplating an education that could have a retail price approaching a quarter of a million dollars be looking for the best educational value they can get? I think an awful lot of students should be weighing their options (e.g., “Yes, I could go to Georgetown, but I could go to Wisconsin and graduate with almost no debt”). I think there’s an important difference, for both students and parents, between *opting *to scrimp and borrow on one hand, and on the other hand, scrimping and borrowing because, “Well, it’s not technically unaffordable, but…” </p>

<p>(I’ll confess to a personal bias here: I hate the thought that everyone, or even anyone, should have a “dream school.” Despite the fact that I kept pushing her to identify a first choice, my own daughter never had one. And after a fairly low-drama college-selection process, she enrolled at one of several universities where she thought she could be happy and successful: the one that she thought offered her the best combination of size, campus atmosphere, academic programming and merit aid. In the end, I had to admit that she’d been wise all along to resist having a first choice until she knew what her options would eventually be.)</p>

<p>For students whose families can pay retail, and are willing to do so, obviously this is not an issue. For students whose EFC is near zero, it’s probably also not an issue, as long as they apply ED to a college or university that really meets need. But for an awful lot of students who fall somewhere between no-pay and full-pay, I think an abundance of caution is called for when they contemplate applying Early Decision.</p>

<p>I know Sally’s the Dean, and it feels a little cheeky to be quibbling with her, but I think it would be most unfortunate if the advice, “So if you are a high-need student, don’t assume that an Early Decision application to a favorite college is off limits for you,” were to cause anybody, especially those students in the middle, to think, “Oh, I guess an Early Decision application is the thing for me then!”</p>

<p>Nobody–not even full-pay applicants, but especially not applicants with need–should undertake Early Decision without giving it serious consideration. And I know Sally’s post actually says, “Consider it,” and not, “Go for it.” I’d just hate for that important distinction to be minimized.</p>

7

<p>As a low income student, I think it’s quite dumb to apply ED. Yes, you can wiggle out but you may be seriously screwing yourself up by having to withdraw other applications. Unless you’re applying with Questbridge, I don’t think ED is good for those in my income bracket. JMO.</p>

8

<p>

</p>

<p>Feel free to quibble away. :wink: But I don’t think we really disagree too much. There are indeed many times when an ED application is NOT a good choice for high need students … or for ANY student. As I said myself earlier, it’s only a wise move when the college meets full need (or close to it) and when the college not only admits the student but also offers a realistic aid package (And “realistic,” to me, also means that the student WON’T graduate with high debt. I don’t count loans as “good aid.”)</p>

<p>Over the years, I’ve seen too many students who have been steered away from ED because they’ve been told that it’s not appropriate for financial aid applicants who need to compare aid awards. And, as I stated in my original post, that may be true for some families. </p>

<p>But what I also tell students is that they should sit down with their parents and discuss in advance what they feel is affordable to spend each year. Then, if the ED college admits the student and allows that student to pay a figure that is close to the one that the family pow-wow produced, then it could be a wise choice, even if another less-desired college might have offered more merit money in the spring or if a public college would have provided a better price tag.</p>

<p>ED certainly isn’t the right route for everyone, regardless of the size of the family fortune. But the key point I want to make–and which shouldn’t get lost in the shuffle here–is that, if you are a high-need student, and you have been told that you SHOULD NOT apply ED, it’s possible that you actually SHOULD. Don’t accept that initial “Don’t” without taking a closer look.</p>

9

<p>I think you’re right, Sally. I don’t think you and I are very far apart on this issue.</p>

<p>I quibbled only because I think it’s quite possible that some eager high-school seniors, whipped into a frenzy by the high-aiming, prestige-seeking contingent that is so vociferous College Confidential, would read this thread in order to find the advice they want to get (“Sure, apply ED to NYU!”) instead of the advice that’s actually there (“This might be for you–or it might not.”)</p>

<p>We all have an amazing capacity to hear what we want to hear, and to justify doing what we want to do.</p>

10

<p>These schools tend to be more generous with ED applicants than with RD applicants …</p>

<p>Haven’t seen this.
However my D who filed regular decision to a 100% need met school, received only subsidized loans- the rest in grants.
Of course she also didnt apply to fifteen comparable schools trying to convince * them, that they* were her first choice.
;)</p>

11

<p>I guess my quibble is that anyone can SAY that the need was not sufficient and then “wriggle out”.</p>

12

<p>But if that ED school was really your first choice, it could be hard to say no before you knew if the other schools offers will be any more appealing.</p>

13

<p>Sally, for the HPY unis, that might be the case, but I have seen a lot of grief with ED when it comes to high need families. Yes, you can get out of the commitment if you can’t afford it , but you have the big MO in the picure, and nothing to compare your offers with at the time of acceptance, and if you happen to have misstated your financials and the tax returns come up differently, it’s too late. You guess your tax numbers and get an estimate from the schools based on what you give, and I’ve seen too many times that the numbers presented were not quite correct, and also there is such the excitement and pressure and momentum to try to work it out because it ends the pressure and stress of the admission s process right there, that families agree to terms, only to say, “What have we done?” when it’s too late for other schools. Also stuff happens between acceptance and the end of the year, and with families who are at a brink financially I know of two families who just last year backed out of ED acceptances for which they were jubilant when they occurred. For one family, yeah, they knew the cost was a bit high for them to afford, but, by golly, for their DD’s first choice school, such a fine school, they would make it work. Yes, they did talk to the College to see if any more possible fin aid could be given Nope. So ok, with a PLUS loan and some scrimping and a little luck, it’ll happen.</p>

<p>In March, the accountant/finacial advisor helping with their taxes told the parents they were crazy to be taking on this kind of commitment. Then the DD got an acceptance from the Honors College of State U, even though she had withdrawn her app there. They apparently don’t care about ED. Friends were going there, it had her program, the cost even with scholarship was half, there was anice merit award, and DD also had a chance to go on a world wide trip with friends greatly subsidized, but it meant not working much this summer which was crucial in the ED financial planning. Plus other expenses had cropped up in the family front. This is a typical scenario.</p>

<p>Also when a parent feels that some PLUS will relieve some of the strain of what they will have to pay, someone had better tell them to apply and see if they are even approved. Not so good when you are all systems go, like my Son’s girlfriend, and your parent’s loan request is denied because of so many back bills. When you are low income, any financial bump in the road can really put you off kilter. That family counts every mile they drive with their car. Just the price of gas going up is an issue. </p>

<p>For a school like Harvard, where the finanical aid is so close to 100% and they leave out the outside awards and PELL and Staffords so that a buffer can be maintained, yes. For schools that do guarantee to meet 100% of need but are watching every dollar and are downright predatory about claiming it, and you know what category of schools I’m talking about, NO. ED is not a good option if you need financial aid. You have a better picture of what you will need, you have comparison offers and you have company to discuss issues so that you can get some feel of whether you got a windfall or a burden.</p>

14

<p>I think ED is something that really has to be considered carefully. We were at a presentation (public U) and the presenter was touting the benefits of ED. I asked if students applying ED and meeting the requirements for the nice merit scholarships would still get those. She was all “oh sure, those are automatically granted for qualifying stats”. Color me skeptical, but I’ve seen on these forums again and again that merit is used to attract students away from other schools - why waste it on a student who is already committed to coming? </p>

<p>As the high EFC parent of a student hoping to get merit aid offers there is NO WAY I would allow an ED application, no matter how much assurance I got.</p>

15

<p>I agree with you, Sylvan. Where the question arises is often with school that guarantee to meet 100% of need for the ED applicant. As I mentioned, a school like Harvard is such a standout and is so generous with aid, it’s a go. It also doesn’t do ED. Many of the most generous schools that do ED give out zero merit awards, and in the case of the very few merit awards such as Duke’s as an example, all students are under consideration. Schools will tell you if ED applicants are fully considered for those awards. </p>

<p>But in many schools, they are not, and FA is sketchy about saying that. They won’t be able to tell you how many ED kids won awards in prior years, and there should be a number since as a general rule, these are the cream of the crop kids, right? Most schools will out and out tell you that the ED pool tends to be a bit stronger overall, so if those kids are not getting any merit awards, ummmm, something isn’t right here. But sometimes, it won’t matter if they do or not if the awards give at ED meet full need and the award is integrated in with the aid. It will all net out. So unlesss you are looking at awards big enough to exceed financial aid awards or replace the self help, it won’t matter. </p>

<p>The problem to me is when a student really does need money and gets a fin aid package that barely does it. Yeah, it’s what the kid should get according to formula, but we all know what are initial reactions have been when told what are expected contributions for college are. So the kid gets exactly waht the formula says he should get and the parents are going to break their necks to do it because they counselor tells them, yes, that is your EFC at just about every school, but…what if she could be an Emory Scholar or get a Chanceloor award or other full ride merit award that would make it a true breeze through college for the family? Don’t know until you try.</p>

16

<p>A lot depends on your experience with finaid, so far, and your understanding of what you can realistically swing, financially. D1 was RD, applied to “meet full need” schools that truly were a good match for her major and personality. All the aid came in about the same. But, we had done considerable research and played the what-ifs. We knew our max.</p>

<p>So, when D2 wanted to apply ED to a meet full need, we felt comfortable her package would probably come close to her sister’s. It did. There are no guarantees, but we felt we knew the range the offer might be at- and knew how much we could bend. Our eyes were open.</p>

<p>The hard part is that so many families don’t do the initial research, don’t understand the terms/phrases, aren;t aware which schools package loans to meet need and don’t think about the very real sacrifices of meeting their semester payments, the 10 month plan or Plus loans. They don’t realize Fafsa EFC is just a starting point and most colleges expect a bit more-- and just “how much more” they can swing for this top choice. They assume that, even at a 100% need, they will get COA-Fafsa EFC and are frantic when it doesn’t happen, left wondering if other schools would have offered more. (No gurantee of that, either.)</p>

17

<p>“Wiggling” out of a “binding” ED agreement may be possible, but ethically, it may not be the right move. Declining ED could negatively impact applicants from your high school in subsequent years. It definitely happens.</p>

18

<p>We have an EFC real close to 0. My DD understands that money does count. She is a Junior this year so we don’t have any test scores yet, but I think she will be in the running for her dream school which meets 100% of need. Based on what I have seen on CC, I have been real hesitant to let her apply ED because I can see where comparing offers would be advantageous. I am now thinking I may let her take a run at ED because it could improve her chances of being accepted.</p>

19

<p>

</p>

<p>It is not “wiggling” to decline an offer that makes attendance unaffordable.</p>

<p>Again, as noted above, what’s being suggested here is that ED may be an option for families whose finances are pretty clear cut: if they don’t receive the aid they need, their student can’t attend.</p>

<p>If family income is not so easy to ascertain, and the family’s tax returns, when filed, may result in dramatically different numbers than what was estimated the previous November/December, then applying ED is not a good idea.</p>

20

<p>

And in terms of pure economics, of course it doesn’t make sense for colleges to offer their big merit awards to ED applicants. As long as they “meet need,” they can get those applicants–signed, sealed and delivered–without offering them any further incentive. The incentive, then, for the college is to hold back as much merit aid as possible for the RD round, where they may have to woo the students they really want to get.</p>