<p>Look around for a school that has similar qualities to GWU that has Early Action (EA)…apply early to that one…or a school with rolling admissions. Neither is binding.</p>
<p>It’s not unusual to feel the way you do. The fever is catching- gotta get in, gotta get in. ED will up your chances, gotta get in. Will figure out how to pay for it later, just gotta get in. It’ll all work out if I just get in. </p>
<p>Maybe so, but many times it doesn’t. Not a problem applying there but keep your options open. ED does not let you do that.</p>
<p>I feel as though giving up on ED is also giving up the chance an earlier choice choice on housing and courses. I know that at GW, ED students get the choose housing first. The thing that gets me is that I might be opting for less courses that I want and a living arrangement that I don’t want. While I know I shouldn’t put too much pressure on these things, I think putting myself in a situation like that could also be setting myself up for an unenjoyable experience.</p>
<p>ULT…it sounds like your dream school is GWU. I will tell you…it’s not all that wise to NOT have a dream school…but that is what I would suggest you try to do. Make a list of the QUALITIES that GWU has…and then find several other schools that share at least some of those qualities. Having a dream is fine, but you also need to be realistic in your choices. You need to be able to pay the costs (or you won’t be able to go anyway) and you also need to realize that there is no way to reliably predict whether or not you will even get accepted to the dream school. SO…as others have said…you need to cast a wider net than relying on ONE school to fulfill your college dreams. There are likely many other schools where you will get good housing, and the courses you want. GWU isn’t the only school that can fulfill this “dream”.</p>
<p>The gist of your posts is that GWU is the ONLY school on the planet that you’ll be happy attending. I would urge you to broaden your horizons a bit…look for other options that will work for you…apply to GWU RD and see if the aid works out…maybe this all will work out fine. Maybe it won’t.</p>
<p>And as suggested earlier…look for EA and Rolling admissions schools THAT YOU LIKE and apply to one or more of those. You’ll get the early admission without the binding part.</p>
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<p>Remember risk is relative. If you had less financial need, if your SAT scores were higher, if…, you risk may be lower or higher. The question is “Is the risk worth it”</p>
<p>There are going to be people on CC and outside who will tell you “Go with your heart”.</p>
<p>On the other hand, this is a very big financial commitment. There are enough horror stories of students and parents who thought the borrowing thousands of dollars for education was worth it or thought they could swing it but could not. What the other posters on this thread are telling is you “go with your brain”. Yes, there are some chances (risks) you need to take in the college admissions process, in your case this is not one of them. </p>
<p>As entomom has pointed out, the people who have responded to your comments (m2ck, thumper and cofh), are some of the most knowledgeable and respected CC members around.</p>
<p>OP - are you visiting GW again this summer or in the fall? If so, why don’t you make an appt with a FA officer and sit down and go over what a typical FA pkg might look like - this is called an “early read”. Ask them what you would need to bring - tax returns, etc. I have no idea about GW specifically, but some schools will do this for possible ED candidates - it’s worth a phone call to see if GW will do this for you.</p>
<p>Good morning guys</p>
<p>My intention is not to sound like I am ignoring your advice. I’m just trying to post exactly what’s going through mind and the fact that I keep second guessing myself. It just feels like such a hard decision to make; one that I’m going to be trying to decide all summer. </p>
<p>I am visiting Washington again in the summer and I’m going to head around and look at some other schools. Hopefully in the end I’ll make the right decision.</p>
<p>If you are <em>truly</em> a good applicant to get into Washington, then ED should not matter. If they want you, they want you.</p>
<p>“I don’t think anyone who NEEDS financial aid should be applying ED.”</p>
<p>We don’t all agree about this. For those who have the one dream school above all others, whose only question is “Can I afford it?” and who don’t care about comparing FA packages, ED may be appropriate, especially if the FA calculators suggest that you can afford it.</p>
<p>Plus, schools that accept the Common Application have this as part of the ED agreement:
<a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf</a></p>
<p>So if the FA award is surprisingly low, you just 
say thanks but no thanks (perhaps after an appeal, sometimes successful), and apply elsewhere at RD time.</p>
<p>Then there’s this from the real world:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/education/edlife/strategy.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/education/edlife/strategy.html</a></p>
<p>I think you are kind of in “cut off your nose to spite your face” mode – if you really are interested in politics and government, then consider that successful politicians know to get all their ducks in a row and plan for all contingencies. </p>
<p>When you start thinking in terms like - you might be unhappy if you don’t get into the best dorm… well, you are pretty far off the track to getting what you want. If you really wanted GWU as badly as all that, then you’d be happy to attend if you had to live in a closet. If you find yourself thinking you would be “unhappy” if you don’t have your top choice in housing or class selection your first semester… then maybe you need to listen to the inner voice and recognize that GWU is not the place for you – perhaps you should opt for a university with nicer housing for all its students, or where its easier for students to get their preferred classes. I mean – you’re a poli sci major, right? It shouldn’t be all that hard to get the courses you need at any college or university with a decent-sized poli sci department.</p>
<p>UT, your CR score is in the upper end of the median range for GWU, and composite pretty close to median --with a 4.0 coming from an IB school, GWU is pretty much a match for you, and you are highly likely to be admitted in the RD round. I think you should focus on boosting your test scores to improve your chances of merit aid at GWU & elsewhere. </p>
<p>Again, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. I mentioned my son’s DC internship in another post. He wouldn’t have gotten that opportunity if he hadn’t ended up at a lower tier school where he was one of top students. Keep in mind that Congressmembers and Senators often look to their own states (and state constituencies) for their interns – and they also maintain local offices in their home state. So in just about any part of the country you could look for a volunteer or internship opportunity – or even a paying part time job - in a local congressperson’s office.</p>
<p>Hey guys - sorry to resurrect this thread, but I just have a quick question. I’ve read a lot about how the data used to determine financial aid is from the “previous” year income. If I were applying for admission to the 2011-2012 school year, does this mean I’ll submit the information for 2010? OR is it the year prior to WHEN I am applying? Ex. I will be applying at the end of THIS year, most likely.</p>
<p>Your financial aid for the year 2011-2012 will be based on 2010 income. </p>
<p>If you apply ED, in order to get a preliminary aid decision, you may be asked to submit financial information based on 2009 income – but any award based on that amount would be revised as appropriate based on the 2010 numbers.</p>
<p>Yeah, my son applied ED and we had to submit a CSS Profile with estimated income figures for the year. The ED application deadline for FA was something like Nov. 1, and of course the base year income was Jan 1 - Dec 31 for that year. They asked you to fill out the Profile with your best estimates for how those numbers would fall as of Dec. 31. In our case that was simple, with very predictable income and no assets. For some families it’s more of a guessing game, however.</p>
<p>The college will give you a preliminary aid award with an ED acceptance, and then later on when they’re completing aid awards for all the RD applicants, they will adjust your preliminary award as needed based on your final, complete figures as of the end of the base year. For us there was no difference between the preliminary award and final award, but that is, as I said, because our financials are very straightforward and predictable. Other families might see more of a difference in the final award… it just depends.</p>