<p>One can apply to a school ED and at most schools they give you an admissions decision in December. How can they give you a financial aid estimate if you cannot file the FAFSA until Jan 1st?</p>
<p>Exactly.
You shouldn’t apply ED if you cannot afford to pay full fees. Early Decision means you plan to go there no matter what. You can get out of it if after the FAFSA you can’t meet the costs but by then it might be a little late.</p>
<p>All the ED agreements say that we can drop out of them if we can’t afford them after the financial aid offer.
But how do we know if we don’t get a financial aid offer when we are accepted? I am planning on ED to a school who’s net price calculator is well within our affordability. If someone applies ED are they expected to pay 65k / yr to this school immediately after acceptance?</p>
<p>Typically there is an earlier financial aid date for ED and you will get an estimate on the potential package that will get firmed up later. But applying ED if you are dependent on a specific aid package is risky because you won’t have a good opportunity to compare packages across schools, and it is extremely difficult to turn down a first choice after being admitted 4 months before you hear from others. </p>
<p>The tricky part about financial aid is when schools talk about meeting demonstrated need. Each school calculates that differently so one school can meet 100% but that number won’t match other school’s calculation of 100%. Vandy could meet 100% and you still might decide it simply is not affordable. </p>
<p>I think it is worth contacting the school directly to talk with their financial aid to truly understand what the obligation is relative to the aid package. </p>
<p>That makes more sense. I am aware of the differing variations on how 100% need is defined. I’ve done the calculators on all the schools and this one remains the most affordable (and has no loans for those in my income bracket). I am going to e-mail them and see exactly how they work it out.</p>
<p>Thanks for the answers</p>
<p>Most ED schools have a way of collecting financial information for ED applicants prior to January 1. Some use the CSSProfile…and it’s filed by an early priority deadline which is often before November 1. You need to check your school’s financial aid application requirements for ED students and adhere to the deadlines!</p>
<p>Re: whether to apply or not. Here is the rub. You will get your ONE ED acceptance and aid estimate (as noted upstream…if your estimated info doesn’t align with your actual tax year info on your completed taxes, the aid can and will be adjusted). You will have to decide whether this ED financial aid package will work for you, trouble is…it’s the only one you will have. It is possible that it is the best aid you could receive. OTOH, it’s also possible that other schools would give you a better net cost…and by a lot.</p>
<p>So…if you are applying to a generous school that guarantees to meet full need for all (and by generous, I mean places like HYSP), fine. They have deep pockets and guarantee aid for all who they calculate need it (remember…the school calculates your need…not you).</p>
<p>If you are applying to a less generous school ED, I would suggest you reconsider if finances are a significant consideration.</p>
<p>Also, many students who are competitive applicants for these highly selective schools would also be competitive for merit aid elsewhere. But the deadlines for this applications are BEFORE you receive your ED decision.</p>
<p>Go to the finaid webpage for ED application for the schools you are looking at. There are deadlines for application and for financial aid submission. Schools that have ED require the CSS Profile or their own financial aid form be submitted around the same time as the admission application. They can determine from that whether you will qualify for any federal aid based on the fafsa you submit after Jan. 1 and will give you a preliminary award of that plus institutional aid along with your acceptance decision.</p>
<p>Here’s a list of admission and financial aid deadlines for Vanderbilt for example. Find a similar listing for the schools you are interested in. </p>
<p><a href=“Apply | Undergraduate Admissions | Vanderbilt University”>http://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/dates/</a></p>
<p>Note Vandy’s Nov. 1 deadline for admission application and Nov. 10 deadline for the CSS profile and that both admission and preliminary finaid awards are supposed to be available on Dec. 15th and you have to decide by Dec. 31st. It works similarly at other ED schools. </p>