Our son’s dream college is Brandeis, and he wants to apply there early decision. We are concerned about financial aid packages offered to students admitted under early decision. He is well qualified for this school in terms of academic achievements and extracurriculars. Brandeis offers the academic program that he wants. However, we are very needy in terms of financial aid, and want to receive the most aid possible for him. We are wondering which is the path that we should go, ED or RD? We know that, generally, you can negotiate the size of the financial aid package in the case of an RD admission. Can you also negotiate in the case of an ED admission?
I think that using the word “generally” here is going too far. Some schools will reconsider their offered financial aid, if a better offer from a peer school is presented, or if previously unknown and germane information is brought to light.
Without a competing offer from a peer school (which you most likely will not have in an ED situation) and absent any new family financial information that was not disclosed in the original financial aid filings, I think in the vast majority of cases an ED financial aid offer is what you’re going to be stuck with.
If you are worried about the aid offers that your son will get, then he really needs to be able to compare a number of offers, which is a strong argument for bypassing ED.
Generally you can NOT negotiate a financial aid package. You can add information (recent job loss, hurricane destroyed your house) which was not relevant when you filed. You can request “professional judgment” if you have unusual circumstances (a disabled adult child who you are supporting), or can submit financial aid from a “peer institution” (and be careful here- U Mass is not a peer institution to Brandeis, Clark is not, Bentley is not, Swarthmore is not) if you believe that the other package more accurately reflects your financial status and payment capacity.
But you do NOT negotiate, and any college has the right to tell you to kindly send your child elsewhere if you aren’t happy with the package.
Except for ED. Then you are committed unless you show that you actually cannot afford what the school says you need to pay.
Run the Net Price Calculator for Brandeis using your actual numbers. If the package looks like it’s within reason for your family, then you can decide if it’s worth getting locked in early. But if the package is unaffordable, that’s not going to change- early, regular- bottom line, you can’t afford Brandeis.
If you look on Naviance, I believe there is very little difference in the acceptance rates for ED vs. RD at Brandeis, so you may want to consider that as well.
If finances are a significant consideration…you probably would be better served applying regular decision. That way your kiddo will have (hopefully) multiple offers to consider.
We did, in fact, run the Brandeis Net Price Calculator for our son using our real financial numbers. The Calculator suggested a scholarship/grant offer that was truly generous, and we would be able to manage. The problem is this: what if the Calculator is wrong? What if his actual financial aid offer is far less than projected by the Calculator? Could we approach the financial aid office and ask for them to reconsider their offer to us? In addition, we have been told by some people that some schools start to run out of financial aid funds, and so later applicants, i.e., RD applicants, may not get as generous of an offer, and, in some cases, they are not accepted at all because of their financial need. It seems to us that, with a student who truly wants to make Brandeis his home for four years, and is a strong candidate, it would be in their best interest to do what they could to ensure that he could do so.
The current net price calculators might be for 2015 income (if they show 2017/18 costs).
Consider what you made in 2016, and what you will make in 2017.
Is that income pretty close?
Do you have other children in college, who will graduate?
I wonder if your should print the NPC results now, and show them to Brandeis if he is admitted ED and the offer does not match. In that case, I wonder if they might adjust the offer, as you applied under a set of expectations that was shaped by information they themselves gave you.
The net price calculator does not constitute a contract implied or otherwise between you and the school. It is an estimate based on the information you supply. If there is a disconnect you should definitely ask the school how they came up with those numbers. I
The net price calculator had no way of taking extenuating situations into account. If you have one let the school know and ask if your package can be adjusted accordingly. Call the school and ask if they can do a financial pre-read- again, this is not a contract.
Negotiations, when successful, usually gets a thousand or two more in aid.
And costs do go up every year.
Negotions, when successful…usually involve presenting a more generous financial aid offer from a peer school. When you apply ED…you don’t have any other offers to compare, or use as a negotiation tool.
Re:need based aid for ED students. My opinion…it’s probably the same as for regular decision.
BUT Merit aid? Many schools use that as a way to entice students to attend. If your kid is applying ED, the college has no reason to give top merit aid…because your kid has already indicated he WILL attend.
In addition, it’s usually very difficult to “negotiate” an increase in merit aid as the criteria for awarding it vary from school to school.
I have never heard of an instance where Brandeis negotiated either ED or RD.
Will they re-evaluate your package based on new information? Yes. Will they take another look at your finances when you point out a factor which has a negative impact on your ability to borrow which their formula did not take into account? Yes. Will they read a letter with documentation attached where you describe something which wasn’t clear such as a one-time severance payment which inflated your income but is non-recurring, and has already been spent on daily living expenses? Yes.
Will they “negotiate” with a back and forth and you stating “Clark gave us 10K more and we need you to match it or else…”
Absolutely not. The answer to that is “We are so happy that Clark was so generous with you, good luck”.
Is there anyone here who has successfully “negotiated” with Brandeis? Anyone?
I agree with @blossom.
But it’s worse in an ED situation. I mean really…what are you going to say?
“My kid really wants to come to Brandeis but can’t unless you give him more money.”
Truthfully…they won’t care.
And as @sybbie719 pointed out…the net price calculator is NOT a financial aid offer. It’s an estimated net price.
Really…why isn’t your kid applying regular decision?
OR…if the net cost with an ED acceptance is higher than you thought…can you pay that? Will you?
Remember, once you say NO to that ED acceptance…it’s totally off the table. Your issue…you won’t know if it’s the BEST net cost…or the WORST net cost…because you will have nothing to compare it to.
What happens if your kid applies ED to Brandeis…and the net cost is too high…and you say NO…but then his regular decision acceptances have the same net cost…or a higher net cost. And yes…that could happen.
It might be worthwhile to go to the Brandeis page on CC and see if any of the accepted students from last years class expressed surprise at the FA package they were given. May not be enough info there, but you could end up getting assurances that the NPC was close to FA offered.
Will Brandeis give you a pre-read? Tell the FA office you want to apply ED, that you’ve run the NPC and it appears you can afford it but would like them to look at your calculations. Some schools will look at your situation, some won’t.
@Cornflower401 “Our son’s dream college is Brandeis, and he wants to apply there early decision.” The dream college in September isn’t necessarily still the dream in January or in April. With RD and non binding EA, that doesn’t have to be a major problem, With ED it idoes, particularly when financial aid is a critical part of the picture. I’m not a huge fan of binding ED for anyone, though for full pay students, at least it doesn’t come with potential financial jeopardy. I think the bottom line is that EA benefits the student, ED primarily benefits the college, and when fin aid is in the mix, ED should be avoided.
I can understand your point here, that our son could wake up one morning and have a different dream school. In his case, such a change of mind is extremely unlikely. But more to the point, the acceptance rates (according to CollegeData.com) for ED versus RD are astonishing. In the case of RD, 11,351 students applied and 33% of them were admitted. In the case of ED, 746 students applied and 36% of them were admitted. In other words, there are approximately 15 times more applicants under RD and than under ED. What if Brandeis becomes more than a safety school for kids applying to the Ivies? What if, for some unknown reason now, Brandeis becomes a hot school to go to, and all of the super scorers and super GPA’ers start flooding the Brandeis admissions office with applications. Our son is highly qualified, with good SATs and a 4.0 unweighted GPA, and great EC’s. But if he has to run up against 1600 SAT super scorers and high school students working in cancer research, our son could get pushed out.
You sound like you want some sort of guarantee and there obviously isn’t one as many have stated! If you want a sure fire way for your son to attend his dream school and can only swing so much, but are willing to do what it takes to make your son’s dream comes true.
drumroll PARENT PLUS LOAN PROBLEM SOLVED!
Call or write the admissions office or financial aid office and share your concern that your son wants to apply ED but you are worried about the financial aid package. Maybe they can advise you or him as to the best move, ED or RD. If a pre-read of your financial aid application is possible, that is awesome. If not, maybe they can indicate how often a student’s aid package is pretty close to the NPC estimate?