<p>I have learnt through college confidential itself, that it's possible to get out of the binding ED agreement, by citing lack of financial resource or inadequacy of funds. I have confirmed this with the admissions office of Columbia and Cornell too. What I fail to understand is that, once you accept the offer from your ED college, all other applications to any other university are automatically withdrawn. So what's the point of getting out of the agreement, when you cannot choose any other college?</p>
<p>I think you are mistaken…</p>
<p>I am very certain you can continue with your other apps after you receive the ED offer. It’s not like the Common App or whatever erases all your data after acceptance.</p>
<p>Happened with my friend last year :/</p>
<p>Your other applications are not automatically withdrawn, you have to manual do so. So if you can wiggle your way out of the ED agreement, you don’t have to withdraw your other apps.</p>
<p>On an ED contract, you can’t ENROLL to another school. There is nothing against applying.</p>
<p>You must withdraw your other apps after ED acceptance. At schools that have aid calculators available, meet need and are willing to give early reads, there are few excuses for bowing out and be assured they will possibly hurt you at their competitors. At schools that don’t meet need, things are easier but you are not wise to apply ED at these schools if you need aid.</p>
<p>^This is true. If you are accepted ED at Cornell, for example, but are able to demonstrate that its financial aid is inadequate, you may withdraw your application (and acceptance) from Cornell. You may then apply RD to other schools (presumably merit-aid and state schools). If you decide to apply RD to a place like Dartmouth, do not expect to attend if the financial aid grant is equal to or less than the original Cornell package.</p>
<p>When you apply ED you are agreeing to a contract. If you don’t want to comply with the terms, then don’t enter into the contract. By applying ED, you agree to withdraw your other applications if you are accepted, and you also agree not to apply to any other schools ED.</p>
<p>When you apply ED, your guidance counselor and often your parents have to sign off on the ED agreement. Your GC will know if you are accepted to your ED school. At least at my sons’ high school, once a student receives an ED acceptance, the GC will no longer send out transcripts, mid-year grades, etc., in support of applications to any other schools. Most other schools will not consider an “incomplete” application, which includes those that do not include a mid-year grade report from the high school.</p>
<p>In addition, our GC will not support applications to other schools after an ED acceptance for any situation other than insufficient financial aid…and she has this discussion with the applicant and family before the ED application is submitted. While the GC certainly wants you to get into your favorite schools, it is the high school that she represents…and if she does not act with integrity, students from the high school applying to that college in the future may have a tough time getting in. She is not going to sacrifice others’ opportunities for one student’s desire to game the system.</p>
<p>It is a big decision to apply ED if you need financial aid. You don’t get to compare packages. And, if you do decide to withdraw from an ED acceptance, you surrender the chance to go to your first choice school–and some schools (not all) give more generous aid to RD applicants–so you might have been able to go to your first choice school if you had applied RD instead.</p>
<p>
Don’t you apply for Early Decision VIA Common App?</p>
<p>
Suppose you get the ED offer on 15th of December. When does the university ask you to enrol by? The RD decisions are in April. So can you hold an acceptance till then, meaning, can you decline the acceptance after RD decisions are out?</p>
<p>
It says on Columbia Admissions,
</p>
<p>
How will that hurt me at their competitors? </p>
<p>
What about the RD schools I have already applied to before I got the ED offer. Can I still keep them, until they release their acceptance/rejection in April?</p>
<p>
I am an intl’ student and I do not have a guidance counselor, so I have nothing to worry about integrity. If this be the case, can I not withdraw my RD apps and wait for their result?</p>
<p>At the same time you submit an ED application you can also sumbit EA (assuming not SCEA) and RD applications. </p>
<p>When you get your ED acceptence you are supposed to withdraw your other applications … however, applicants applying for financial aid are given a little more time to review their financial package to see if that works … however this extra time will not be enough to be get your RD acceptances and compare the FA from these acceptences (other than some very early RD acceptences).</p>
<p>The consequences of withdrawing from an ED contract are not well publisized and many theories are thrown around on CC. Top schools certainly let students out of their ED contract … the scenario that makes the most sense to me are students who then head to cheaper state schools or other schools with merit scholarships. The scenario that isn’t as likely is to turn down a top school ED to compare other top schools in the normal time frame … first, if you don’t like the FA package from Brown then you’re not likely to like the FA package from Dartmouth or Bowdoin much better. Finally, it has been said that the top schools share lists of their ED accepts (they can not share lists of applicants but they can share accepted students) and that in general other schools will honor these lists and not accept kids who do not honor their ED contracts … to me it seems this is much more likely to occur with schools closely conected (the IVY and NESCAC schools for example) than schools that have no relationship with each other (IVY and a small LAC in CA for example).</p>
<p>“When you apply ED you are agreeing to a contract. If you don’t want to comply with the terms, then don’t enter into the contract.”</p>
<p>Here are the financial aid terms of the Common App 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>Columbia and Cornell are among the colleges providing the best financial aid. Probably the only colleges that are likely to give more favorable need-based aid are places like Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Amherst.</p>
<p>If what you really want is to shop around for the best aid – including merit aid – offers, then don’t apply ED. If you’re competitive for places like Columbia and Cornell, you probably could get full ride merit scholarships from some of the less competitive school that offer those.</p>
<p>As mentioned on Stanford’s website, * Applicant is admitted and has until May 1 to respond to the admission offer.*</p>
<p>Is the case similar for Early Decisions? Do accepted students get a similar time period to respond to the offer?</p>
<p>Do you agree with the following statements?
Statement 1:
Acceptance of an early decision offer, does NOT intrinsically lead to a withdrawal of RD applications.</p>
<p>Statement 2:
Do not apply for ED if you’re looking for substantial amount of aid.</p>
<p>Statement 3:
SCEA at Yale and Stanford is actually disadvantageous for solid but not phenomenal applicants. [ A finding by Silverturtle, and a logical thought ] </p>
<p>Statement 4:
Schools of equal or similar stature share information about the applicants.</p>
<p>Northstarmom, for once I disagree with you! Cornell has the worst financial aid program out of all the Ivies and is definitely not among the best colleges for providing financial aid. My sister is a rising senior at Nell and with each year, although my parent’s income stays the same, her package decreases more and more. Moreover, Cornell is one of the few elite institutions that has yet to replace all loans with grant aid.</p>
<p>Still, the Ivies have better financial aid than do most colleges. If the OP wants to get the best financial aid possible, the OP should not apply ED. If the OP has the stats to realistically apply to Ivies, the OP has the stats to get excellent merit aid from schools offering that aid --aid that would be better than the need-based aid that virtually any other college would offer. </p>
<p>So…if finances are a consideration, do NOT apply ED. Keep your options open and apply RD and EA including to schools where you’d have a great shot at excellent merit aid.</p>
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</p>
<p>I totally agree with that. Though they are need-blind for all applicants, their financial aid packages, especially for international students, are very uninspiring. I know of lots of compatriots who got into Cornell but with no aid.</p>
<p>Precisely. So don’t bother applying ED when the odds are you won’t get sufficient aid. If you really want to up your admission’s chances, apply to a school ED that you know you would be able to attend. Otherwise, focus on the RD round. :]</p>
<p>Suppose you accept the ED offer, but not withdraw your other apps, since that seems possible from the above discussion. Later you get accepted to a better college with a better finaid in April, can you get out of the ED bond citing inadequacy of funds?</p>
<p>Someone said above that you’re allowed to apply just not enroll at other colleges. Well, I don’t think that’s true. Most ED agreements require you “withdrawl applications to all other institutions” so that means you’d never have known if you got in or not because you’ve withdrawn or never even submitted other applications. The whole purpose of this clause is to prevent people from doing what you’re asking - getting an acceptance and resting on it until you find something better.</p>
<p>“Acceptance of an early decision offer, does NOT intrinsically lead to a withdrawal of RD applications.”</p>
<p>Correct. You must withdraw each of them yourself.</p>
<p>“Do not apply for ED if you’re looking for substantial amount of aid.”</p>
<p>I don’t see any connection between ED and the amount of aid. There are important factors to consider, but this isn’t one of them. A top student with $0 EFC applying ED to a school that meets full need (with minimal loans) can get a “free ride.”</p>
<p>“SCEA at Yale and Stanford is actually disadvantageous for solid but not phenomenal applicants.”</p>
<p>No opinion.</p>
<p>“Schools of equal or similar stature share information about the applicants.”</p>
<p>At least in some cases, yes, e.g., when deans at various schools know each other, they may talk about applicants.</p>
<p>“Suppose you accept the ED offer, but not withdraw your other apps, since that seems possible from the above discussion. Later you get accepted to a better college with a better finaid in April, can you get out of the ED bond citing inadequacy of funds?”</p>
<p>The honest GC will withdraw the other apps when you accept the ED offer, if you don’t.</p>