<p>I have a quick question about Early Decision. I know that you can only apply ED at one college, and if you get accepted ED you are required to go to that college. What if the financial aid package is not good enough? Do you still have to go to that school? Or can you apply to other colleges and choose not to go to the ED college?</p>
<p>No you are obligated to go to the college you applied to ED. That's why you only apply ED if you are able to finance college with out aid.</p>
<p>That is the big disadvantage of ED. Clearly if you cannot come up with the money, you cannot go. But in order to get clearance to get out of the contract, you would have to let the school know and go over the package and see if anything can be worked out. If not, the school is likely to release you from your commitment. But you have to be quick in doing all of this because many schools exchange ED lists as soon as the decisions are made. That can cause your files at other colleges to be dropped. Also, colleges take a very dim view of kids backing out of ED, and you often have to let them know just in case you were dropped from consideration because of that list. It can hurt you in consideration with other schools. Also, you cannot compare offers. The ED package may end up being your best catch, and you will have lost it if you are released from commitment. You have no idea if the amounts and types of aid are what you can expect from other schools. I have seen such varying packages for the same kid, that it is difficult to assess if what you get is typical, cheap or generous.</p>
<p>turtlegurlie is wrong. Financial circumstances are the only "loophole" to ED. You can break the contract if aid is insufficient. </p>
<p>From the Common App ED agreement:
[quote]
Under the Early Decision Plan, it is a violation of the spirit and the letter of the agreement for an applicant to be an Early Decision candidate at two or more institutions
at the same time. Students who apply under the Early Decision Plan may initiate applications to other institutions, provided that none of the other applications is made
under an Early Decision or an applicable Restrictive Early Action Plan. The obligation explicit in the Early Decision Plan, as described here and as defined by the National
Association for College Admission Counseling, is a commitment on the part of the candidate to withdraw any other applications and to initiate no new applications if
accepted under an institution’s Early Decision Plan. <a href="This%20commitment%20is%20binding%20only%20if%20sufficient%20financial%20aid%20is%20offered.">b</a>**
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Actually, that's wrong (Turtle). It may be difficult to get out of the agreement, but you CAN get out of the ED bind if you can't work it out financially.</p>
<p>There are other "loopholes". Illness in the family, change in family circumstances, all sort of other catastrophes can get you out of the contract. But even then there can be consequences. It is messy getting out of an ED contract and if things get confused, and they do during the heavy admissions season, you can get yourself in trouble.</p>
<p>Many schools will do financial aid estimates for ED applicants before applications are due. If your ED school does this, you could get an idea as to what your finaid would be like before you apply, and if it looks like it won't be enough then you could switch your application to RD.</p>
<p>Remember that it is the school, not you, that decides if the financial aid is adequate. If they meet 100% of your need as they calculate it, even if the aid is filled with loans, they will make it very difficult for you to get out of your agreement. No one can force you to go to that college, but they can make it difficult for you to go anywhere else.</p>
<p>If you have any issues with financial aid, do not apply ED.</p>
<p>My son applied ED with great financial need. It was fine. It's a matter of doing your homework. It depends on the details of your own financial situation, the policies of the school, and their willingness to communicate about those policies before you apply.</p>
<p>Two schools I spoke to about theoretically getting out of an ED agreement if the aid was not sufficient said simply, "that's not a problem."</p>
<p>So spend some time carefully examiningthe specific details of an ED application as it pertains to <em>you</em>, your <em>specific</em> financial situation, and the school in question. Don't assume it's a bad idea. In fact, if it's a very generous school (and particulary a no-loans school) ED might be a great benefit in getting a better financial aid deal than you'll get anywhere else, especially because your odds of getting accepted at all are sometimes quite a bit better.</p>
<p>^^ Would you care to specify about which schools you spoke to? I've also heard that accepted ED students receive worse financial aid packages than those who apply RD.</p>
<p>When it works out, it's great. When things go wrong, it can be a nightmare. That is the problem with ED. You really do not want that hassle if you have to back out.</p>
<p>That's apparently the way it seems. Do you think if I asked the financial aid department at my prospective ED school for an estimate, that they would give it to me? (My family isn't in "need" but I want to make sure that I don't completely get screwed over.)</p>
<p>There's no downside in asking them for an estimate; the worst they can do is say no.</p>
<p>The problem with an estimate is that is is just that. If you do not have complete and current info to give them, you are not going to necessarily get a good number back. That is always an issue with financial aid. I know a couple of kids who did get good preliminary packages but when the actual W-2s came about and the updated financial were submitted, there was a huge gap. They are wrestling with the matter right now. Since final numbers are not available when you apply ED, what you get with the acceptance is an estimate only, with the final package dependent on actual numbers and circumstances.</p>
<p>what I never fully got though was if you did wind up getting out an ED commitment for whatever reason, does that mean that your place in the next year's freshman class is nullified? Or if you get out of ED, will the college/university still allow you to attend as if you weren't an ED applicant?</p>
<p>It means that you are giving up your seat and you cannot attend that college. This is not a loophole that will then allow you to compare college offers. You cannot say you cannot afford it and then somehow "find" the money when the other college offers don't come through.</p>
<p>Hippo, if you cancel the ED agreement your place in the next year's freshman class is nullified, yes.</p>
<p>GeorgiaCeltsFan, the two schools I spoke to specifically about this were Williams and Carleton.</p>
<p>And cptofthehouse is correct, estimates are only as good as the numbers you put in. If, however, your family income is in the form of wages (as opposed to investments, real estate, recipients of bonuses, or whathaveyou that might be less predictable) then it's not difficult to input accurate figures. Our early estimates were almost identical, virtually to the dollar, to the actual package offered.</p>
<p>I'm not saying ED is a good idea for anyone who needs aid, but it also isn't correct to say it's always a bad idea. I was asking questions like this myself a year ago and got the never, never, never advice, but the more I researched it the less sense it made. Then several people messaged me privately telling me they had similar circumstances and also applied ED and it worked out fine.</p>
<p>I'm just putting out there, that under certain limited circumstances it can be a good choice. Doing the homework on this for oneself is definitely advisable.</p>