I think people are responding to what seems like an increase in the number of families who want to back out of ED agreements this year. OP apparently never wanted to apply ED to this particular school, but I can’t imagine that’s the case with everyone.
Is it always like this and I haven’t noticed, or are more people backing out this year? And if more are declining than before, why is that? Is the aid not coming out the way they expected? I haven’t seen any complaints that the NPC’s were wildly off, but I suppose that could be a contributing factor. Cost of living expenses seem to come up a lot. Are people hoping colleges will take the high cost of living in a particular area into account when determining aid and are disappointed when they don’t? Or are they just hoping to get a better deal somewhere else?