Is ED tied to merit at all?

If my D applies ED to a school, does this cut down any chances on merit aid, since the school really isn’t trying to entice her to come anymore? We won’t qualify for any needs based aid.

Is this binding ED? My son applied non-binding ED to a couple schools and received merit aid from all of them.

Yes - binding. Isn’t all ED binding?

@jpc763 There is no such thing as non-binding Ed. You are thinking of EA.

Agreed. So I can see where EA merit aid is nice because the school is trying to entice you, but will they hold back if my D gets accepted ED?

It would not be surprising if at least some colleges gave less merit aid to ED admits because there is less need to entice them. Enticement of ED admits may be limited only to those the college believes may not be able to afford the school on its normal financial aid and therefore may turn down an ED admission for financial reasons without an added merit scholarship (or preferentially packaged financial aid).

Thank you. So would it be advisable to go EA to a school then for the hope of merit aid? We can afford the ED costs, but it would be a stretch with some borrowing. But the trade-off would be that certain schools seem to be getting more and more ED, and that is the route to take if my D has a totally preferred school. I know if you don’t get the financial aide needed from the school then you can turn down the ED, but that will not be our case. The calculator shows we can pay it all, but were still hoping for merit.

My twins applied to the same school, and the one with better stats & ECs applied ED and got less merit. That’s just one anecdote, but I truly believe if my first one had waited until RD the packages would have been identical. It was moot for us because their need-based aid is offset by merit anyway, but it was an interesting observation. The bottom lines WERE identical, but the merit was not.

@jpc763 immgiessing you meant EA…early action. Because ALL ED…early decision…acceptances are binding.

Some schools requires students apply ED or EA in order to be considered for their best merit scholarships. Check the colleges on your list.

@TQfromtheU

Some schools have a December first application deadline…or before…for applying for admission and merit scholarships.

Not necessarily ED or EA…but earlier that the RD deadline.

My D applied ED and I had this same fear, but in the end, she was awarded the highest amount of merit given outside of the “apply and interview” named scholarships. However, the scholarship was given by her college within the University, and is dependent on her keeping the same major, so it could have been an individual circumstance.

I know that one school that we were admitted to (Rice) had some merit scholarships that were ONLY available to ED applicants. So I think there is no standard rule for this across universities. The best answer is of course not to apply ED unless you are confident you can (and will want to) afford it without Merit…any Merit would then be a nice bonus.

Yes, many schools do limit the merit aid to EA or ED applicants not just a slightly earlier deadline. One may argue that those apply to RD by EA deadline should also be eligible, but why would one even do that. It is understandable for applying RD early but not ED though.