<p>idk one girl at my school backed out of JHU ED so easily. She had no problem doing it.</p>
<p>wow, what a little .... she is</p>
<p>well so definitely not applying to JHU this year. I just know i'll be rejected</p>
<p>Did she just apply to see if she can get in? If not, I don't know how some people could be so fickle as to change their mind on such a vital issue in two months time</p>
<p>In regards to financial aid, and perhaps this has already been answered, but...do schools who accept ED students typically provide lower financial aid packages because they know, unless the circumstances are dire, they can basically corner you into paying whatever they want you to pay? I am considering ED right now, and my parents are wary because they can't "compare and leverage packages." I mean, in some regards ED is often benefit to colleges because it's an opportunity for them to have greater control over their budget projections.</p>
<p>Colleges use ED more for yield than for budget... well for top-tier ones anyways</p>
<p>Gotcha. I mean, the schools I am looking at for potential EDs are top ten LACs, hopefully that assists in their contribution. So, financial aid packages are usually as generous as in RD?</p>
<p>One of the drawbacks of goind ED is that you do not get to compare offers so you really do not know whether you have received a school's best offer. D applied to her school RD and by comparing offers she was able to reduce the EFC, reduce her loan obligation and increase her grant aid by over $4000</p>
<p>Wow, okay. See, I like the comfort of being "in" somewhere ED, but I don't want my parents paying more than is necessary.</p>
<p>deroutefille, this is the way I look at it (so I'm not forcing this perspective on you): If you get accepted ED, you will recieve enough financial aid to get past college- they won't screw you there. I think $2,000 a year for 4 years is well worth it to have a higher chance at the college of your dreams. The school that offers you the best aid in RD might not be the best school you got into... What if you get rejected RD from the school that you could've gotten in ED? The pros of ED far outweight the cons. </p>
<p>hope that wasn't too vague</p>
<p>No, not vague at all. That's basically my reasoning. My parents have stated finances are a "non-issue," and at the end of the day, I will elect to go wherever I am accepted. Hopefully, however, financial aid can be increased through applying RD and weighing and requesting more. But from all the research I have done, I concur in regards to the fact schools are not "out to screw you." Applying ED not only is sensible because of a higher probabilty of acceptance (but then again there is the notion of the more "highly qualified applicant pool"), but because I know exactly what I want to study at the school I am considering and I have interviewed already (along with three other schools) and, I really do think "this is the one." </p>
<p>I think my parents primary concern is making me understand the "cost" of my education and how FAFSA and everything works. That checks aren't just being written and sent off, so it's not that money's a problem, but my parents would like me to comprehend the inner-workings of the process.</p>
<p>One thing I forgot to mention, and ED colleges like to brag about this, is that getting accepted ED WILL save you a lot of stress in the end... You can also save a few hundred bucks on app fees to other colleges ;)</p>
<p>My guidance counselor told me that if you are still 17 you can't enter into a legally binding contract, and therefore any ED forms you sign don't really matter. He was in no way suggesting that I apply ED and then get out of it (I am in fact applying ED to NYU), but financial concerns may be an issue and NYU has notoriously bad aid, so he was telling me about the options I would have in the worst-case scenario (I get in, but with not enough aid).</p>
<p>Some ED schools also make your parents sign the application in addtion to the student. </p>
<p>Can someone legally make you go to school againstg your will? No. But applying ED also speaks to your sense of character and ethics. While it is not illegal to bak out of your ED commitment, it is unethical as character is who you are when no one is watching.</p>
<p>As far as the entire thing about "don't apply ED if you can't afford it" goes...</p>
<p>Early decision boosts applicants' chances to an incredible extent. At the same time, it's primarily for the well-off, because others don't want to commit to a school before they can see what kind of financial aid they'll get. This simply isn't fair.</p>
<p>There's no real argument for why schools should have "ED" programs. Maybe it makes adcoms' lives slightly easier, but that absolutely does not justify the truly immoral advantage the practice gives to the wealthy. It's an outrage, and should be abolished (just like legacy admissions!).</p>
<p>Frankly, I don't think that it's unethical to back out of an ED "contract", although for other reasons it's probably not a good idea. What <em>is</em> unethical? The practice of Early Decision admissions, and the pathetic games that these schools play.</p>
<p>If you have ANY reason that you might need to back out of an ED binding acceptance...including finaid....you should NOT apply ED. Let's put it this way...if your ED school gives you $20,000 in loans as part of your finaid package, they have STILL contributed to your need with that $20,000 loan. It might not be acceptable to you, but loans ARE considered part of a finaid package. If finances are a consideration and you need to compare finaid awards, ED is NOT for you. Re: your GC...in situations like this one (where finaid might be a reason for backing out of an ED acceptance) the GC would be well advised to tell the applicant NOT to apply ED. ED is for students who are willing to commit to that acceptance and for whom that school is the far and away number one choice.</p>
<p>Thank you thumper for clearing this very confusing thread up to some degree. There seems to be a great deal of misinformation propagated in this thread. Let's be specific about the truths:</p>
<p>1) If you are accepted ED you are bound to attend. There is no "truth" that these contracts are not binding because they are signed by a juvenile (under 18). You cannot "get out" of them without substantial potential harm to you just because you do not wish to attend the school for the following reason:</p>
<p>When you apply ED and are accepted, you are required to withdraw all other applications to all colleges. All colleges know this. The college which accepts you ED will notify all colleges that you have been accepted. Your file is then inactivated at the other colleges. So, if you "get out" of your contract to the first college, you will not have acceptances to any other college to choose from (for the most part). Believe me, all colleges take ED very seriously and none are inclined to "step on the toes" of another to enroll you if you blow off the acceptance.</p>
<p>2) The ONLY exception is if you can definitively prove that your family cannot pay the EFC as determined by the college. This is extremely difficult and generally only happens if you can prove that your family has experienced extreme financial hardship SINCE the application was submitted. In reality, financial aid offers are generally included in our around the time of acceptance and are usually not much different than in RD rounds at most schools.</p>
<p>3) If you and your family NEED to compare financial aid packages prior to enrolling at a college, then ED is not for you, even if you're planning to apply ED to a school that declares that they meet "100% of demonstrated need." Remember, the college determines what is "demonstrated need" by one of various methodologies and this "need" may not be (and is often not even close to) what your family thinks they can afford to pay.</p>
<p>In conclusion, ED (and maybe or maybe not EA) while it indeed does increase chances of admission, should only be used if you have a one very clear choice about where you wish to attend college and can attend that college REGARDLESS of the financial aid package offered to you.</p>
<p>All i have to add is that ED is a desicion that requires thought. Dont try to do something stupid and revoke your admission. You will get blacklisted,your GC probably wont fill out any rec. for you, and if you apply to schools in the same location or the same class (HYPSM, CAL,JHU, GTOWN, AMHERST,COLGATE....., UMD, UVA, PENN STATE...., ) THEY WILL NOT ACCEPT YOU. </p>
<p>Also even if you got a lawyer and fought the blacklisting and ED, You will end up like the girl who sued her school to become the sole valedictorian then ended up getting her admission to harvard rescinded.</p>
<p>^^^^^Exactly. You may be able to get out of ED, but the ED school can blacklist you, and your GC may not co-operate with sending out recs to any other colleges.
ED is not a game.</p>
<p>The offer of admission was recinded due to plagiarism not because she sued to become val........half truth. The attention from the suit caused greater scrutiny and she was exposed.</p>