Greetings everyone. I am in a dilemma. I am a hispanic student from northern Virginia, highly interested in applying to northwestern early decision this fall. However, I’m nervous that if I do get accepted, I will not be able to have the options and the freedom to choose a single school. Also, my parents are nervous about the financial burden of Northwestern and I do not want to be stuck. Finally, I feel that the only way I can get into my dream school of northwestern is through early decision (since the acceptance rate is higher). Should I take the risk of going with ED or should I play it safe and do regular decision? I’m very confused and unsure. I love Northwestern so much but I still want to have options.
Run the net price calc to get a feel for the tuition and aid.
NU accepts majority thru ED, so if you apply you have a shot, conversely RD = fagettabouit.
Good luck.
Yeah, run the net price calculator to get an idea of financial aid and even if you do get into NU ED and the financial aid doesn’t work out, you can actually reject the admission offer for that reason(so ED’s not entirely binding). If you’re pretty certain you do want to go to NU, ED is your best bet for getting in.
Good luck!
If you apply ED and they don’t give you enough money, you can get your contract waived if you prove on paper you’re unable to pay for your tuition with the financial aid package they give you. I don’t know if they take into account cost of living where you are (which sucks for students in more expensive areas) but you’re not totally screwed if they don’t give you enough money.
Another thing is that some private schools look at what other scholarships (unattached to schools) that you’ve applied to/been granted. Just to be super cautious, you can ask these scholarship federation places to make out their money to YOU and not to the school, or you can ask for a reimbursement of the cost of your textbooks or something instead so the school doesn’t try to cheat you out of your money. (They’re sneaky…)
I’m most likely applying ED too, best of luck to us all! 
^ If the ED financial aid is insufficient (in your opinion), you don’t need to prove anything; you just say “Thanks but no thanks” and move on.