<p>I posted this on the admissions forum and it was recommended to me to also post it on the parents forum to see what you may have experience. </p>
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<p>I have a son who is being recruited by a top LAC. We are concerned about the financial support but have been assured by the asst. coach that if the package is not enough we can break the commitment and move on. I thought that ED was binding no matter what. Anyone have any experience or knowledge of this?</p>
<p>From what I know, if you cannot afford to go to the college then the ED is not binding...but don't quote me on this. </p>
<p>If you were worried about financial aid you should have went EA, it gives the college more incentive to give you that package you need.</p>
<p>EA unfortunately is not an option at this school. He still doesn't have to make a decision for a couple of more weeks. I'm pretty sure that EFC will give him zero dollars need based, but that doesn't mean we can really afford to give him $40-50k/year. But I understand that each school can calculate "need" based on their own criteria. This is what makes it so frustrating.</p>
<p>If finances are a concern do NOT apply ED. ED is binding in most cases. Plus when you receive an ED acceptance, you must withdraw all other applications and acceptances. You may not even HAVE your finaid award at that time. This would leave you with an ED acceptance in hand, and no other applications pending. If the EFC calculator is saying you can pay the full price, then you will have a very hard time proving to the college that the finances are prohibiting you from attending the school. Schools share ED acceptances. DO NOT APPLY early decision if you want the opportunity to compare finaid awards...merit or need based. We can't "really afford" to pay the bills either...but guess what...that didn't make our finaid awards one nickel more. The schools calculate their finaid award on a formula basis (even for institutional need based aid), not on what you feel you can afford to pay.</p>
<p>You think the coach was misleading regarding breaking the commitment?</p>
<p>It varies by school. We've been told specifically by one school (RPI) that if financial matters are a concern then you are not a candidate for ED. Another school (Denison) told us it was OK with them to withdraw if you were unhapppy with the offer.</p>
<p>In general though, the presumption is that if finances are a concern then ED is not an appropriate option.</p>
<p>If he is being recruited then why would you want to do ED? Especially if you have a high EFC? They will have absolutely no reason to give you any money, and you will have no legitimate reason to break your committment. Do regular decision, compare offers at the different schools.</p>
<p>Is this a school that offers athletic scholarships? If it's a school that only give need based aid, and you don't qualify for any, you won't get any because he's a recruited athlete. So if you really can't afford the school, you should focus on schools that can give him money for being an athlete. There are many.</p>
<p>Rim, thats a dangerous strategy unless he's a star being recruited by many schools. At many schools most recruited athletes apply early.</p>
<p>I quote the president of Williams:</p>
<p>" And the other thing we do – and we tell people this, too – is that if it turns out that you apply early and you’re committed and you get an aid package that you really feel is not going to work for you, we let you out. It happens a couple times a year. We tell these kids to shop. Most of these kids end up coming here. That’s why we’ve been successful in increasing the socio-economic diversity of our early kids in a way that a lot of other schools haven’t."</p>
<p>Mountantag - there have been many, many threads on precisely this topic. The opinions are STRONG. And varied. You can and will find any answer you can imagine. Very few people have direct experience with this. Fewer are willing to post their actual experience on a public forum. I will try to search for the one cc thread which tried to go to the heart of the matter and focus on those with actual experience (it was still widely populated by those opining what the experience <em>should</em> be or <em>would</em> be, not what it actually was). </p>
<p>Bottom line, it is never wise to go ED if finances are an issue. Because you may enter thorny territory where YOUR estimation of the financial viability of a package differs from THEIR estimation. There are also some schools whose ED policies purport to have no "out," even based on finances. </p>
<p>Check the written policy of the school in question carefully. That will give you some guidance, but I don't believe there are any definitive answers. It is rumored that some kids have had their acceptances rescinded at other schools if they renege on a binding ED commitment. I don't believe we've ever had anyone step up here on cc and say that this has happened to them. But it isn't something you want to risk. You might get out of a binding ED agreement; you might not. It will not be fun. But it has been done.</p>
<p>Here is the thread I referenced: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=242417%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=242417</a></p>
<p>You may also want to search threads about athletic recruiting, how much you can rely on a coach's promises, etc. There are parents here with extensive experience in the matters of recruited athletes (I'm not one of them ;) ). Because I think whether to rely on this coach's promises is another key element of your situation, from what you have posted.</p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>
<p>It is true that ED contracts can be broken, but you and your son are then entering some dangerous territory. You would have to be diligent in letting other colleges know your student is still available even though he may have made the ED list. And you are taking a chance that the other colleges and your highschool counseler may take dim views of what he did. Yes, it is POSSIBLE get out of an ED contract but doing so adds a whole new layer of complications in the already convoluted process of college apps. Do you and your son really want to take the chances?</p>
<p>My son - a freshman now - has some experience with ED and I decided to share it. He was passionately in love with a DIII LAC that is on the top LAC list here. The coach told him that if the package is not enough the college will release him from the commitment. But in December everything worked out fine: they met all his need. When he contacted the other coaches to inform them that he couldn't apply to their colleges as he was accepted ED somewhere else, two of them offered him to break his commitment and go to their colleges. Each of them told him that he knew the way to do this without any damage for my son, and even promised a better package. I have to add that one of these schools is better ranked, and the other is of the same caliber as my son's. As he didn't accept these offers and kept his commitment to his ED college, I don't know how this could work out but I feel such things do happen.</p>
<p>mountandog,</p>
<p>ask the coach who to speak with in the financial aid office about getting a pre-read on the financial aid package.</p>
<p>jmmom - you are right -- there is at least one cc thread on "pre-reads" that i remember seeing on cc. </p>
<p>it's my understanding that ED is morally binding.</p>
<p>at the d3 level, we learned that student athletes oftentimes will apply to multiple schools Early Action or Regular Decision .........and then compare financial aid packages. in reviewing the financial aid packages, you need to note what is the EFC amount for you as parents.........and then..........what is the composition of the financial aid package, i.e., scholarships and grants, loans, and work study. also, what is the student's expected contribution as well. our experience was that the packages were all different. </p>
<p>mountandog............if the school you speak of is truly your son's top choice school...........then you have to take this into consideration and in your family's case............then maybe ED would work best for your son...............just be sure that you get the pre-read first before commiting to the ED. </p>
<p>is this the only school where your son is being recruited presently?</p>
<p>mountandog, have you run the EFC calculators at numerous sites?.........collegeboard, princeton.edu website, etc.<br>
your FAFSA EFC may differ from EFC's calculated using different methods. all depends on the particular financial aid methodology used by the schools in question. some may use combinations of methodology or a single type.</p>
<p>Is it also possible to get a pre-read at say 3 schools before you decide to apply ED if you are a recruited athlete?</p>
<p>Alot of recruits are encouraged to apply ED as the coach has to "make" the team up asap...is it disadvantageous to apply RD (vs. ED) if you are a recruited athlete?</p>
<p>radannie,</p>
<p>good question. imo, there is no one answer...........just depends on lots of factors............... how strong is the applicant? how selective is the school? will the coach still be interested in the athlete if he/she chooses to not apply ED? </p>
<p>does this school take into consideration the coach's support for the application? i'm guessing, the schools have differing policies on this. you may want to ask the coach about the admission process and see if he/she can shed some light on it for you :)</p>
<p>concerning multiple pre-reads......I don't know why not.........maybe some other cc posters have experience with this. </p>
<p>if applying Early Action (EA)......ask when the Financial Aid Package will be mailed out to the student........is it within a day or two of the decision?</p>
<p>There are some very troubling statements in this thread</p>
<p>The statements by the coach and the Williams President (cited above) - are precisely why so many young kids today give ethics and honor such low priority</p>
<p>OF COURSE someone that literally could not attend a college due to financial issues would probably need to try to escape from a BINDING ED committment and would no doubt be successful - as the college itself would let that person out of the contract 99% of the time, and in any case it's well known that colleges have few if any actual enforcement machanisms</p>
<p>That is precisely why a college in an ED agreement knows the student and his family's exact financial position at application</p>
<p>However the comments by these two official all but invite abuse by students to simply deal shop - and treat "binding" ED agreements as pretend agreements</p>
<p>It's very sad when even authority figures cannot support students chosing honor over dishonor</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your feedback. When you look at the body of comments, it appears to be a bit of a grey area, albeit with some risk. Good suggestions on trying to get a "pre-read" from the financial aid office.</p>
<p>To answer a few questions from some of the replies:</p>
<p>1) Yes - its his first choice school
2) Yes, other schools including D1 schools are interested but haven't made an offer yet, and probably won't until after the ED deadline. There are no guarantees there either.
3) Yes - admissions is listening to the coach
4) Yes - I've run a couple of calculator simulations that put us on the edge. The EFC will still be high, but we're not looking for a 100% ride anyway
5) No - There is no merit aid offered at this school</p>
<p>Mountandog, Congrats to your son on being recruited. It is great to be wanted!!!</p>
<p>My S. is currently a freshman at a top 10 LAC after applying ED with an athletic slot. We met with financial aid before the ED deadline and although we were not given an early read per se we received examples of awards for a variety of EFCs - the information was right on. The award was received with the ED acceptance and was what we anticipated. We are also certain that merit awards would have been higher at other schools that were calling, but he couldn't pass up this amazing opportunity.</p>
<p>As you know, private schools use the profile therefore, your estimated contribution will be higher than what the generic online calculators show. Your plan to be proactive with financial aid is right on. It seems possible that he will not qualify for any aid at a school that offers to meet 100% of financial need with no merit. Check out how competitive the school is for his sport. If it is filled with amazing talent, maybe extra aid dollars are slipping through to athletes.</p>
<p>There are ethical considerations in applying ED when you are informed of the risks involved. The failsafe clause in getting out of the commitment is really there for UNFORSEEABLE situations and is not intended to be used as an option. </p>
<p>Also, how important is financial aid in this picture? It is entirely possible that your student can get a fine package--much richer than what his first choice school may offer him. Would that make a difference in his decision? When you apply ED, you do not get the opportunity to compare offers. You have to reject or accept the ED offer in isolation from what other schools may offer since you have to withdraw the other apps upon acceptance. It would be pretty awful to turn down the ED offer only to find out that it turns out to have been the best one, after you turn down that school and got through the trouble of applying to other schools on the list. Many, many parents have reported a diversity of aid packages even from similar schools that supposedly use the same methodology. If this is a significant consideration in picking a school, it would not be wise to go ED.</p>