<p>So I've got everything together for my application and since Smith is my top choice I really want to apply for winter early decision (i'm so stressed)</p>
<p>However my parents refuse to agree until they hear back from the financial aid department about the binding qualifications. My brother went to school at Colorado State without taking any loans and they are threatening to hold me to the same standard. </p>
<p>Needless to say I'm terrified
I can only estimate
but I know my mother made over 20,000 this year (because of a one year grant unfortunately)
I made about 4k and my dad was probably somewhere close to that as well
we will just have finished paying off our home (a small standard 4 bedroom suburban)
I doubt we've got anything that qualifies as assets/savings
My mom has been going to community college and will transfer to CSU next year (SHE got lots of aid)
They're also 62 and 56 and a large portion of our expenses go to small but cumulative medical expenses and health insurance (probably 800 a month or more)</p>
<p>Essentially 22% loans, even unsubsidized = not an option
Is this a good enough reason to get out of ED agreement if necessary?
Will my application be submitted into RD if I do?</p>
<p>My stats are on the lower side of decent
SAT 2000
GPA 3.7uw (ranks sucks cause we only get .002 extra)
one college class for next semester
A's in 5 ap class semesters
4 on comp test and 5 on psych (studio art to come)
2 honors with b's in sophomore year...
I also have a great note explaining how my health was impacted my grades and course rigger but also prepared me for future adversity (I'd like some private input)
Good Ec's + 20hrs of work a week</p>
<p>I'm also putting together a excellent special talent form for art with a stellar teacher recommendation (I expect that the other two are at the same level) +strong essay and supplement</p>
<p>I NEED to get into this school.....but am I being oblivious to risk?</p>
<p>other schools I'm applying to are in the same category with 100% aid
Pitzer Occidental Mount Holyoke Lewis and Clark ...and CSU:[</p>
<p>The aid package from Smith would be fairly similar to the other schools...$1,000/2,000 one way or the other won't make a difference. Go and apply.</p>
<p>You should never apply early decision ANYWHERE unless you are willing to accept that it is binding, including accepting the financial aid offer that the SCHOOL says meets your need.</p>
<p>Your reasoning is NOT a good reason to get out of a binding decision, especially as you knew about it in advance of applying.</p>
<p>The good news is that you are likely to get in anyway, and be able to compare offers (and perhaps negotiate for more) in April, though I have no idea why Smith (or any other school) should consider your parents' aversion to loans given to be given to you in the mix. (There are lots of very wealthy folks who might not like loans either.)</p>
<p>If financial aid is a major factor, then you're better off waiting and applying regular decision. Clearly, aid is important to you, and you shouldn't apply ED if you're not prepared to accept the binding part of it, it's not a good-faith way to go about things. </p>
<p>Just wait for the next deadline and apply then. Though, you should probably have your parents talk to the financial aid office about their issues with loans. I think it's unlikely that you'll be able to attend smith without accruing any loans. Even the most generous of smith's packages usually involve some kind of loans, just because the cost is too high to make it possible to offer loan free aid to students. It's admirable your brother got through Colorado state without loans, but that's a much less expensive school, so the situation is very different. </p>
<p>Still, if you apply RD you'll be able to compare and negotiate your financial aid offers with more leverage. so if I were you, I would just wait.</p>
<p>I have contacted the financial aid office with no response but I'm guessing thats closed at the moment.... Any idea when the financial dept reopens? Deadline is approaching:[ </p>
<p>I'm sure I will be able to convince my parents to allow me to take out some loans but not without a reply. Personally I plan on doing whatever possible to make Smith a reality without work study or other job (I've saved nearly every penny of the 4k). So the real issue is not that they don't "like" loans but that for us, 22% loans plus our financial contribution comes out to about half of our yearly income, definitely under the category of insufficient aid. I know smith has a firm position on EA because the do receive a good portion of economically diverse applicants, and see it as a reflection of what EA is supposed to mean, first choice.....
or are my stats well enough in range to chill...like I said my art should be a strong unique selling point. Sanity for money if I'm required to wait:/</p>
<p>I think you make a mistake by considering loans as belonging to "us". There are parental loans, and there are student loans. Loans that a student takes on to fund her own education have nothing to do with parental income (except that they are not offered at all if parental income is to high.) Parents are not expected to pay them back. They would nothing to do with "insufficient aid", unless there was in total a gap between total costs and total available resources.</p>
<p>If Smith had EA, you would be at no risk. In ED, you agree to accept the school's meeting 100% of your need, as THEY DEFINE IT. If that rattles you, don't do it.</p>
<p>In our experience, Smith is very generous in the aid department (grant-in-aid per student is actually higher than Harvard, Princeton, Williams, etc. - those claiming that they've eliminated student loan requirements). That is because there are so many more low-income students, the students are taking out the loans rather than the parents. But because so many parents can't take out anything in the way of loan burden, I think it is reasonable that students should be expected to. If you think this is a problem, you really shouldn't apply ED, and allow yourself greater room to negotiate in April.</p>
<p>I doubt that the office will open until after the new year. The campus closes down between the 21st and the 1st, and I'm pretty sure that includes the financial services office. Did you try calling them? The office recording should tell you when they'll be open again. </p>
<p>Good luck, but again, it sounds like you're a prime applicant for Regular decision, not Early decision. If you get an aid package applying ED you don't like, you'll either be stuck attending smith at a financial hardship, or you'll have to pay a monetary penalty to get out of your binding committment to ED. </p>
<p>If you wait to apply regular decision, you'll likely get a better aid package, and you'll be able to negotiate for something to your benefit.</p>
<p>I suppose I'll just have to take the risk ....and wait
Hopefully you're right and I'll be able to get in
The negotiating aspect is something I can't over look... but does it make a serious difference?</p>
<p>Officially, it doesn't make any difference at all, at least that's what Smith will tell you. However, in practice, people have been able to negotiate better aid packages, using what other schools offer them as a bargaining chip. Also, when you apply regular decision, smith is trying to attract you and get you to pick them over other schools. So they might offer you an aid package that's more attractive RD, not neccessarily bigger, but with more options. If you apply Early Decision, you're trying to attract the school, and once they accept you, you are required to attend, so they don't have to offer you the most attractive aid package, and you don't have anything else to compare their offer to.</p>
<p>Any difference is a big one
apparently my institutional contribution calculation is 6K
regular fafsa estimate is 0
stupid house
should I indicate I wanted to apply ED?</p>