<p>I am currently a high school junior and I'm thinking of applying ED to University of Pennsylvania (Wharton specifically). However the setback is that I am Asian and I have decent stats (nothing super spectacular though a lot are business related). I know my mom said that a lot of her colleague's children who did go to UPenn did do ED, but they all checked "no" for wanting financial aid in fear that if they were to check yes, their child will get rejected or deferred.</p>
<p>However, I am very hesitant about going to college without financial aid because I don't want to place an even bigger burden on my parents for the already expensive tuition. I have done enough research to know that college, in its core, is a business and I have heard that many colleges secure their "full paying tuitioners" through ED before giving out the majority of their FinAid to RD applicants to lure them in. </p>
<p>I know there is a rumor that says that checking yes for financial aid increases your chances of not getting accepted for ED. </p>
<p>Is this a true rumor or not? I talked to the Upenn rep and of course he would give the answer of "we are a need-blind" (or something similar) meaning that applying for FinAid will not hurt my chances but I was wondering for you parents or former admission officials, what is the actual story/truth of financial aid?</p>
<p>They say that they’re need-blind, and I see no reason to disbelief this. Asking for financial aid should not hurt your chances of admissions ED. Of course, applying ED may lead to a less-than-optimum financial aid package, but that discussion lasted 100 pages and we don’t need to get into it again.</p>
<p>Well my parents I think make between the 180k-200k so I doubt much FinAid will be given to me via ED or RD. But I am just trying to get as much money as possible given my parents already somewhat high income.</p>
<p>What is UPenn’s policy for incomes of $180k - 200k? </p>
<p>Do your parents also have decent non-retirement savings and assets? If the answer is yes, and UPenn doesn’t give aid to such families, then you won’t get aid even if you check the box.</p>
<p>You need to understand that even if you check the box, your parents are still going to have to likely pay for most or all of your education based on earnings and likely assets that I imagine that they have.</p>
<p>If finances are at all a concern (including your simply wanting to reduce the amount your parents may pay) don’t apply ED. If you’re good enough to be applying to U Penn., you’re good enough to get merit aid from some very good schools, but if you apply ED to Penn, you can’t accept such schools’ offers.</p>
<p>I always like to say FA is not a lottery, by checking “Yes” doesn’t give you a chance to get FA if you don’t qualify, by checking “No” when you really do need FA won’t allow you to go to the school anyway. The difficulty is when you may be eligible to get a few thousand $ of FA, would you be better off in not asking for FA? I think if it was my kid in that situation, I would forego FA because by not needing FA would give you a leg up.</p>
<p>If you need the $$ in order to attend, then there is no point in not checking the box, because you won’t be able to attend even if you get in.</p>
<p>If you can afford to pay the tuition, then I wouldn’t check the box. (This is not based on any special knowledge about Penn, so keep that in mind.) If the box is included in the body of Penn’s application and not completely separate, then technically, they are not need-blind no matter what they say, because they can “see” if you have need. Having the ability to pay in full can only help you this year.</p>
<p>If you apply ED, make sure that your parents can afford to pay full fare. You may not get finaid, and if you do not, withdrawing without a good argument that your family really cannot afford the COA will make things more difficult with peer schools.</p>
<p>Oh so are you guys saying that I shouldn’t apply for financial aid? I kind of want to (and my parents want to as well) even if the package is just a few thousand dollars because it would help my parents. If I get deferred or rejected, I can to go UT in Austin where I know I will get merit aid. :DDD</p>
<p>As marite said - would your parents be willing or able to pay $47,500 for UPenn when you could get good merit from UT. If you were to get accepted ED then you would have to go (please lets not get into this who discussion about legally if ED is binding).</p>
<p>I think the best answer would be if it comes down to it, they would because they love me O:) . However I think they would very very very strongly rather not pay the full amount.</p>
<p>This is why i feel so conflicted if I even want to do an Early Decision school to begin with… I know I will do EA MIT and Uchicago but I doubt I’ll get into either of those schools.</p>
<p>I don’t think it would be easier to get into UPenn vs UChicago. As a matter of fact, I know a double legacy to UPenn who was rejected by UPenn but was accepted by UChicago, ED and EA.</p>
<p>If Shiny’s parents do make $180-200K per year as she says, would she be in line for any financial aid in any case? I know that some Ivies have very generous aid, but I’m don’t think it’s that generous.</p>
<p>I doubt it, but I am not a FA guru. OP’s parents should think hard about letting OP apply ED to UPenn if they do not qualify for FA because there won’t be an out for them.</p>
<p>“OP’s parents should think hard about letting OP apply ED to UPenn if they do not qualify for FA because there won’t be an out for them.”</p>
<p>I agree. Unless they are 100% willing to pay Penn’s cost out of pocket, then they should not allow their student to apply ED. Any student who has the stats to apply to Penn also has the stats to get some good merit aid from good schools including probably some in the top 30-50.</p>
<p>You will need to talk to your parents and make sure that they understand the implications of applying ED. One of them will have to sign the ED commitment form, along with you and your GC. Some parents are willing to make the sacrifice for a first choice school; others would rather see how the merit scholarships play out for other schools that you would still like to attend. This is a very personal, family decision.</p>
<p>Regarding your original question, if the school’s admission policy is “need-blind”, then checking the FA box will not matter in the ED decision.</p>
<p>*If I get deferred or rejected, I can to go UT in Austin where I know I will get merit aid. *</p>
<p>Didn’t UT-Austin recently say that they’re no longer going to give merit scholarships? Didn’t they say that they’re going to concentrate on “need” students?</p>
<p>If she applies ED, gets accepted, and doesn’t get any aid, will she or her parents be upset? If so, then she should not apply ED. She needs to apply RD and also to schools where she’d get merit money and then compare all in the spring.</p>
<p>Many merit schools have Dec 1st deadlines for scholarships, so if she waits til she finds out what UPenn will do, it may be too late to correct the issue.</p>
<p>I always like to say FA is not a lottery, by checking “Yes” doesn’t give you a chance to get FA if you don’t qualify, by checking “No” when you really do need FA won’t allow you to go to the school anyway.</p>
<p>"An increase in the number of students seeking financial aid has prompted the University of Texas at Austin to phase out its multimillion-dollar National Merit Scholarship program starting next year so it can use the money for need-based scholarships.</p>
<p>The university enrolled 281 National Merit Scholars last year – second only to Harvard University – and says it will honor all current scholarships but not offer them to freshmen next year."</p>