<p>I have applied to many schools but all of them were after Nov. 1/Early Decision. Will that affect my chances of receiving scholarships or the amount of financial aid I will be able to receive?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Not usually.</p>
<p>It depends upon the school. Some schools do restrict certain scholarships to those who apply by a certain deadline, maybe EA or ED deadlines. You will miss out on those if any of your schools have such scholarships. Also some schools (example CMU) guarantee to meet full need if you apply ED, but not if you don’t. Also, those schools with limited funds, may well dole out the goodies to those who apply early first, with less left for those who come later. </p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that it’s too late to mull over that. The benefits of being able to compare packages by not applying ED are often greater than what you might have gotten at any one given ED school. Most EA schools that I know do not give out the fin aid packages until the time they do the RD ones. There is often a gain or loss in taking a particular path, and it depends upon the one you take with which schools. It’s entirely possible that none of your schools have much or any advantage in terms of aid or scholarships by applying early. </p>