<p>No ED box was checked, nothing was signed electronically or otherwise. When D got a standard RD notice that she would get word her as to her acceptance in March it conflicted with an earlier mailing saying interviews for this major would be in February, so she called. At that point they suggested she change to ED so as to garner an interview and explained she could opt out if the finaid didn't make the place affordable. I think if the $300 is sent it implies acceptance of the ED decision and the finaid/scholarship package... thus we would be commited at that point. So I guess in the intervening time we will leverage the higher Merit awards offered by other schools against the one offered by this school and hope something shakes out by the deadline on Feb. 15.</p>
<p>northeastmom- It sounds like you may have angered the school that raised the GPA along with the increased merit when you pointed out a better offer from a competing school. I would be curious to know if this has happened to anyone else. ...I mean there is nothing wrong with mentioning better offers to attempt to increase a merit award.. is there?</p>
<p>While nothing may have been signed, oral agreements in many jurisdictions are just as binding, so if your D did in fact say, "OK, move me to ED", that could be considered binding. </p>
<p>One of the rules of ED is that a student can always opt out for financial reasons. That doesn't mean that the student can just say, "Oh, well, someone else gave me more money." If the school is affordable on the basis of the scholarship and FA they've awarded, without regard to other schools' better offers, your D may be stuck.</p>
<p>I don't know if it was anger. I just think that they thought we could pay what they asked to pay. Frankly, it was a stretch for us. Frankly, in the end thAT competing school was not even the best offer. We submitted it at the time, bc it was the best offer my son had at the time it was submitted. My H wrote a polite letter, and showed them the other offer. I guess they were just not anxious enough to do anything to make it financially more comfortable for us. I thought the counter offer was silly. If you are going to do something it might as well be a real counter offer, otherwise, why even bother. Once we got that counter offer, that school was just quickly taken off the table.</p>
<p>Chedva, as a side question, who determines what is affordable in the case of ED?</p>
<p>It seems that the school has been skirting ethics in terms of how it has been dealing with your D so far. That makes me wonder whether it also would skirt ethics if she decides to go there. For instance, will they find some bogus reason to decrease her financial aid? Is it possible that some other things that they may have promised her won't happen?</p>
<p>The things that you're describing would make me encourage my kid to turn down their offer.</p>
<p>Incidentally, as a h.s. senior, my older S turned down a scholarship from a Fortune 500 company that included 4 years of internships, a guaranteed job after graduation, and a $20 k scholarship. Why? The company insisted that he back out of a summer internship that he already had accepted when he applied for their scholarship. He had included that info in his application. Their company VP even called him and told him to back out of the internship. The company also was going to fly S, H and me to a dinner with the company executives when S would get the award.</p>
<p>S turned down the scholarship even though that meant he'd have less money for college. </p>
<p>It ended up that the company -- which once had been known for its high ethics and professionalism -- had greatly changed from its original way of operating. A few years later, the company made some financial moves that broke the hearts of the employees who believed that the company's purpose was more than making money for shareholders. A few years after that, the company surprised its employees by allowing itself to be sold to a company that had been regarded as its worst enemy.</p>
<p>
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For instance, will they find some bogus reason to decrease her financial aid? Is it possible that some other things that they may have promised her won't happen?
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</p>
<p>For financial aid, you can look to a school's averages for freshmen and undergraduates, and it seems to me that is all you can do. To me, as a poster recently stated, this is like playing "Deal or No Deal"! One does not know the financial aid offer until the envelope arrives in April.</p>
<p>You also can post the college's name on CC to find out others' experiences with it.</p>
<p>All of these "deals" sound a bit scary. D applied early decision II to Oberlin. The ED form required parent and guidance counselor signature on the form. The GC was on break when we submitted the form and we sent it without his signature. Oberlin sent us yet another form and indicated that they could not process D without the guidance counselor as well as my signature and my daughter's signature. I thought what Oberlin did was "standard fare" for ED (according to a friend, Yale was the same way). What are other folks take on this?</p>