<p>Any other ideas?</p>
<p>Now I'm considering Johns Hopkins and GW.</p>
<p>I'd agree that even applying early you don't have much of a chance at Princeton and would be better off saving your ED quiver for something that could really make the difference (more like Cornell or Penn). I would also suggest Middlebury, Colgate, Wesleyan, Colby, Hamilton, Bucknell, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Union.</p>
<p>Hmm, is applying ED really bad if I'm relying on getting lots of aid?</p>
<p>We're talking 30k+ a year at the ivies that I'm applying to. I've heard that Princeton doesn't give loans at all and it's all grants & work-study, which is part of the reason why I want to apply there instead of Cornell & Penn early.</p>
<p>When you don't get in, it won't matter what form the financial aid at Princeton is in. If the schools judge you to need aid, ED shouldn't be an inhibitor to getting it. I'm not sure what the rules are for backing out of ED if you receive what you consider an inadequate aid package. </p>
<p>Maybe apply early to Georgetown, BC or some other school where it isn't binding; however, doing this isn't as helpful in gaining admittance as an ED school would be.</p>
<p>I was just reading A is for Admissions, and in it they say that your financial aid package is going to be the same for both ED and RD since all Ivy League Univerisities are need-based only (no atheltic or merit scholarships). Also, I'd figure that if you weren't happy w/ Princeton's package, the odds of it getting any better are slim to none unless you go to a state school w/ awesome merit aid or you're a star athlete, so...</p>
<p>The state schools in New Jersey are actually cutting merit aid with the budget deficit...</p>
<p>That's good to know; I guess I'll go forward with my plan then.</p>
<p>The issue is not so much that your ED school will give you the same aid ED or RD. The issue is that you don't have the opportunity to examine aid packages between schools. School B may give you a better package than the ED school. ED cuts off that opportunity.</p>
<p>TonyT,</p>
<p>You are incorrect about the "media scandal" impacting TCNJ. I think most people recognize it for what it was, a once in a lifetime tragedy.</p>
<p>TCNJ received well over 8000 applicants this year and will be enrolling a record-sized class of 1325 students. They accepted what they believed to be a proportiate number of applicants to achieve the desired class of 1200, and many more students enrolled than anticipated.</p>
<p>Corzine's threat to take away the merit aid may or may not happen. Other governors had threatened to do the same, but the monies were ultimately restored. New Jersey educators and legislators recognize that the state suffers from "brain-drain", and can ill-afford to keep losing quality students to out of state institutions. However, we are dealing with Corzine, and if the voters could not see that he was throughly disingenuous before the election, they have seen that now.</p>
<p>Hmm, well I'm just saying what my friend told me who's going to TCNJ next year, that they will be the last class to receve merit aid, and that the school will be taking the money out of its own pocket to make sure they get it.</p>
<p>On average, 1 out of 16 Princeton applicants from NJ will be admitted. (I believe that's the RD statistic, and that's what I was told when I interviewed for Princeton this year.) I'd say your chances are significantly better at Penn and Cornell.</p>
<p>I wouldn't suggest applying ED if you really are counting on financial aid. I didn't apply ED anywhere for that reason. Aid packages come in the forms of grants, work study, and LOANS (in any combination). You may get a package which meets your need, but is filled with loans. If you're really set on applying early anywhere, I suggest you research their financial aid endowment and see if they typically give large packages with mainly grants.</p>
<p>Your list seems pretty good so far, although I would suggest looking at some more schools that would fit somewhere between TCNJ/Rutgers and the Ivies. I guess that would include many of the top 20 LACs, Carnegie Mellon, NYU, George Washington, etc. BU seems like a safe match. It's hard to tell with BC. I had a similar GPA to yours and higher overall SATs, and was waitlisted. I think BC gets more competitive with each passing year.</p>
<p>But....the average Pton student has 0$ in loans. Princeton does not believe in using loans to meet 100% of the need of its applicants. I saw that posted elsewhere.</p>
<p>Yeah, BC is really competitive these days...</p>