<p>I also talked to my counselors, and they said that they haven’t had a situation like this before and that they didn’t really have any advice to offer me. What I’m planning on doing is waiting for Cornell’s FA package and going from there. </p>
<p>I don’t think that the deposit would make it harder to withdraw, but I do think that (depending on the school’s rule) you might end up forfeiting that money to the school. That shouldn’t be a problem though if you really want to go somewhere else.</p>
<p>I think it’s smart to wait for the package if there’s a chance that it might sway your decision.</p>
<p>It’s probably only going to be partially refundable, but I wouldn’t think it’d necessarily hurt you in withdrawing.</p>
<p>Edit: It looks like $200 of the $300 deposit is refundable when you go to decline enrollment.</p>
<p>Thanks for the quick replies. Another question, what role does the FAFSA play in all of this? If Cornell’s FA is not enough, will additional aid from FAFSA prevent me from withdrawing?</p>
<p>FAFSA doesn’t give aid. It’s a form you fill out that estimates what your family can contribute. It also allows you to get a Pell grant if applicable (federal aid). If Cornell gives you enough aid that you are able to afford it - according to what the FAFSA estimated you could contribute - it might be difficult to make a case. It might be best to be honest and say Cornell is no longer your first choice. They probably don’t want to force a kid in that’s probably going to transfer. But wait until the FA package - it might be too good an offer to turn down.</p>
<p>The bulk of Cornell’s need based aid is institutional need based aid. The determination for that is the info provided on the profile, not the FAFSA. </p>
<p>OK, also another hypothetical question. Say I pay the same amount for Cornell and Chicago, but Cornell’s aid contains more loans. Would this be a valid reason to withdraw? </p>
<p>I don’t think there’s a hard and fast rule. It seems in this situation you’re going to have to discuss with Cornell and see what happens.</p>
<p>You know…if Cornell meets your full need, I’m not sure what your case would be for withdrawing from an ED acceptance there. The school includes student loans in financial aid packages…and you KNEW that going into applications.</p>
<p>What you are dealing with is regret that you applied ED to a school that is NOT your top choice. That is very different than receiving an acceptance that has financial aid that is insufficient.</p>
<p>When will you receive your Cornell financial aid package? We’re all your financial aid application requirements submitted ON TIME? Have you contacted Cornell to see when this package will be forthcoming?</p>
<p>I’m unclear how you know what your Cornell financial aid package will look like if you haven’t gotten the actual award in the mail, oh…and check your student portal too. It might be there.</p>
<p>thumper, I’ve considered that. But I wouldn’t be even considering withdrawing from Cornell if it weren’t for several special circumstances. The first, and most important circumstance depends on the U.S. Congress. There is a decision that they have yet to make that can affect my family’s financial situation. (it’s a decision involving subsidizing money to businesses to buy materials. My dad owns a business.) If Cornell meets my full need, I can say that in the last month, because of Congress, my family’s financial situation has worsened. Another circumstance is the new No Barriers program UChicago has implemented, which basically means no loans and all grants. I could probably successfully appeal for more aid from Chicago if my financial situation has worsened, seeing as how they’re all about good FA. Another thing about Cornell is that they’re probably the worst in terms of financial aid of all the ivies. Their aid involves a decent amount of loans instead of grants, which is completely opposite from UChicago. </p>
<p>Also, I did not submit my FA app to Cornell in time. I’m expecting it around two weeks from now. I’m planning on contacting Cornell about this. </p>
<p>“I would suggest calling Cornell ASAP, and explaining to them that there is a financial difference, and you would prefer to accept the slot at U of Chicago, but that you will abide by your obligation to attend Cornell if necessary. My guess is that they would rather not ante up extra money in order to have an unhappy student come who may end up transferring out at the end of freshman year.”</p>
<p>Any other thoughts on this?</p>
<p>Take an inventory of your heart – is there any reason why you would attend Cornell? It sounds like you have a litany of different possible excuses to give them for backing out of the ED contract regardless of what Cornell gives you, so I think that you should just go ahead and do it. The federal financial aid that you will get is probably going to be a Stafford loan for $5500. Would that really sway your decision?</p>
<p>It’s unfortunate that you did apply ED to a school that you didn’t really want to attend, but it’s too late to change that now. In my opinion you might as well go ahead and withdraw from your commitment from the school. It doesn’t sound like there is anything Cornell can do to change your mind, right? Chicago is your dream school, and all of the stuff about Congress and loans vs. grants is just a pretext so that you won’t feel bad about avoiding the ED contract, right?</p>
<p>When I wrote the above section that you are quoting, I didn’t fully realize that your post #5 was a hypothetical, and that you hadn’t actually received your aid package from Cornell. So I guess the question is: 1) do you call Cornell preemptively and explain your situation, or 2) do you wait the two weeks, and hope that Cornell’s package comes in really low so you have a better argument for getting out of the ED.</p>
<p>I don’t have a suggestion because I haven’t been through this. Common sense sort of tells me that you might get a more sympathetic hearing from Cornell if you just contact them up front, before they invest any more time on your application. If you did that, perhaps the financial aid office could just make this problem go away by saying aid denied. I really don’t know. I think it is anybody’s guess at this point, unless someone has actually been through it.</p>
<p>Sorool…you didn’t submit your financial aid application on time. You have issues with a parent who owns a business. Even without your other issues (I won’t enter into commentary about that because political discussions are against the TOS of this site)…it is very possible that need based aid even at very generous schools won’t be what you think it should be.</p>
<p>Very often, deductions allowed by the IRS for tax purppses are not allowed for financial aid purposes…and are added back as income. Even at U of Chicago, you will need to link to the IRS data retrieval tool, and the school will determine whether those deductions are allowed…or not…for financial aid purposes.</p>
<p>Honestly, it is astounding to me that students and families can read the ED deadlines for admissions applications but can’t seem to read them for financial aid purposes.</p>
<p>And for the record…it sounds to me like you are sort of gaming the system here. Didn’t submit the financial aid application to your ED school on time, thus delaying the finacial aid award. This gave you enough time to hear from your EA school. Sorry, but that should not have been the case. You should have submitted your financial aid application on time…and you would have quickly needed to determine if Cornell was going to work.</p>
<p>The No Barriers program at Chicago was implemented before you sent you applications in to the schools.</p>
<p>@thumper1 I’m wondering why any school accepts an ED applicant who doesn’t get his/her financial aid applications in on time. By doing so, don’t schools run the risk of falling into just this kind of situation? It would seem to me that ED applicants who don’t make the deadlines should go into the RD pile.</p>
<p>Well…some ED applicants don’t actually need or apply for financial aid. This student, apparently, really needs the aid or cannot attend. </p>
<p>For any others reading this thread for informational purposes…missing deadlines is NOT the way to go!</p>
<p>Thanks @thumper1 My thinking was that if you check the box on the common app that you intend to apply for aid, and the aid app is not forthcoming, that should raise a red flag perhaps. This thread just got me wondering how often that happens. </p>
<p>If a student indicates that he’s going to apply for aid ad applies ED, but doesn’t submit, then his app should go to the RD pile. If a student applies ED and says that he doesn’t need aid, but later says he does, his admission should be revoked.</p>
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<p>You received the above advice in November when you were second guessing your ED application to Cornell. Why didn’t you move your application to RD then? Even in Novwmber, you were singing the praises of U of Chicago. </p>
<p>If you had moved your application to Cornell to RD, this would not be an issue now…at all.</p>