^ Well said. In any case, there should no fear in applying ED asking for FA.
While it may not be legally enforceable in court, and while the schools may not sue, I agree that you should not apply ED if you think you can’t pay what the NPC suggests. Others who sign that agreement DO intend to accept any offer of admission, and they may be deferred or rejected because someone who could not afford NPC$ applied in bad faith. Not for nothing, those applicants are also putting the credibility of their College Counselor on the line, since they have to sign, and that may well impact how many ED applicants from that school the ED college will accept in the future. That’s not the problem of the bad-faith ED applicant, but it is something else to consider.
Where numbers are visible, early decision applicants can indicate an impressively strong commitment their choice. Of the ED1 applicants accepted at Hamilton, 100% attended.
@ryandryu Not withdrawing applications is a violation of your ED agreement. Not only can you not use packages that came in after your acceptance, they could rescind your offer. What you’re doing is very unethical.
@ryandryu I agree with collegemom9. You signed a contract saying that you would attend. If you ask Emory to match the WashU offer, you’re pretty much telling them “Hey I broke my contract.”
Also, the whole point of ED is that you are getting an admissions advantage. You can’t really say you “didn’t withdraw other apps due to financial aid” because there are many kids who also needed to evaluate different financial aid offers, and because of that didn’t sign the contract for the admissions advantage.
The fact that you are already contemplating breaking the ED agreement indicates you aren’t committed enough to apply ED and would be entering the agreement in bad faith. This is particularly true because you acknowledge your parents aren’t supportive of your application…would they even consider signing the ED agreement knowing it’s binding ?
@ryandryu, If your parents won’t pay for your ED school accept the affordable school and reject the ED school’s offer. You can’t attend if your parent’s won’t pay.
I definitely want to go to Emory and carry out the ED agreement; I was just wondering how the financial aspects worked. All my applications are withdrawn and I emailed WashU that I will not be attending. 