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<p>Penn’s CDS? Can someone now assume that Penn has started making its CDS available to the public? This would represent an abrupt change from the Stetson era when Penn’s disclosed data were whatever sounded good to the boss … that particular day.</p>
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<p>jym, I want to make sure I understand your point. Stanford SCEA makes the best choice for Dad II - because it’s Stanford, or because it’s EA and hence non-binding the way ED is?</p>
<p>Dad II - you may want to play around with the following hypothetic scenarios:
<p>Stanford fits his bill b/c it meets the prestige need, and if I recall correctly, they have a fantastic FA offer, requiring parents to pay only 10% of income for attendance. I don’t recall the specifics and I am currently out of town and on a dial-up computer so cant easily look up the info on Stanford’s website (can someone help?) but I am remembering their COA to be incredilby low. IIRC, DAD II’s cost for his dau was less than her full tuition offer at their state school, costing maybe around $10-12K (can you remind us, DadII?) With 2 kids in school, the cost for BOTH of them may drop if Stanford’s COA is tied to the FAFSA and not just the 10% of income (though thats a really sweet deal!). And as DD now has a car, it’ll be cheaper to transport the 2 of the kids together to/from school or what have you, if they drive rather than fly. More money left for the expensive camera equipment,those resort vacations, sending kids overseas for summer vacations and $300 meals with expensive wine!</p>
<p>jym626, if you want help, give something positive and useful. You are entitle to your opinion but I don’t see the purpose of your post except harassment. </p>
<p>You are so full of it. When did my DD get a car? How could a drive of 3000x2 miles cheaper than $300 round trip airfare?</p>
<p>PS, I have reported your post as harassment. You have done the same thing over and over for many many times without any other purpose.</p>
<p>I think Dad II’s son is interested in Finance, like Wharton. UPenn definitely treat EDers more favorably - it’s what my kid’s school has seen also. Even if UPenn’s FA may not be as favorable as Stanford, I would go for ED at Penn, EA at Chicago, instead of SCEA at Stanford. If the son should get rejected or deferred at Penn, then it’s a sign that they should reconsider range of schools he should apply to during the RD round. Getting rejected at Stanford SCEA, is not going to be a very good indicator on how competitive the son’s stats are.</p>
<p>Oldfort’s point is valid, but I think the Chicago EA application is an even better indicator, or the two of them together. Chicago and Penn both accept about the same number of people early (1,100+) from about the same size applicant pool (~4,000), with (I suspect) not a whole lot of overlap, and somewhat different admissions foci. If a student is deferred both places, that should be a major wake-up call.</p>
<p>DadII,
IIRC, you asked this summer about DD getting a drivers license in CA without having to come home to get one in your home state. I recalled a thread about buying used cars in CA (maybe that wasnt your thread, dunno). Either way, driving from Ohio to CA with 2 people in a car that might need to get there anyway can certainly be cheaper than flying, depending on the date, time, airlines, cost of gasoline, cheap hotel rooms, etc. </p>
<p>Feel free to report whatever post you choose. Everything I wrote was true. Most posters on CC give and take. Some <em>just take</em>. You have a tendency to take-- to post questions asking over and over for posters to tell you how to get your kids into the top schools for the least amount of money, and when posters ask you questions in return in order to clarify their response, to be more specifically helpful or to learn for their own search, you typically ignore, dodge or now claim you will not share due to privacy. When you get what you want, you leave, ignoring the posters questions to you in the thread or the fact that they might have questions and needs too. That, IMO, is rather selfish and inconsiderate to the other posters that have been interested and helpful. That is your choice. But if you cannot see how that can be extremely annoying to posters who (a) are also trying to apply to the same schools your s is and who may be a little miffed at your attitude or (b) see this pattern that you tend to ask and ask and ask with rarely ever a post from you to help other posters in their research, can be bothersome. Please remember that the college search, and the quest for that holy grail of the top school for the least amount of $$ is not just your quest. Its not all about you.</p>
<p>Many of us have been willing to be helpful and respond to your repetitive questions about this, but grow frustrated by this same pattern wherein you start a thread to pick the brains of helpful posters, get what you want, and disappear, only to return when you want something else. This is meant to be helpful feedback, and I truly hope you will hear it with an open mind. You said you were turning over a new leaf this year, but so far the same general posting pattern seems to have persisted. Please, PLEASE consider helping OTHER posters by sharing what YOU have learned, respond to posters questions, and stick around in a thread even after you’ve gotten what you wanted. You have been here for a long time and have gotten a lot of feedback. You might consider sharing with others what you have learned and help them out in their search. It might make you feel better. JMO</p>
<p>*** BTW, what I posted was useful-- to other posters why may or may not know the specifics of Stanford’s FA . I don’t know the specifics but YOU DO. I am asking again, could you KINDLY post what the arrangement is?? What does Stanford offer/guarantee to parents re: the COA?? I do not know the answer to this question and would genuinely like to. Please answer.</p>
<p>Agree with jym. This forum is all about sharing, but I feel not only do you not share, you try to mislead.
Didn’t you write in another thread that we will not hear another word about your son’s college choices?</p>
<p>Thank you, cbreeze. DadII, we are hoping you will contribute, share and respond to questions. No one can require that-- its just the right thing to do. If you choose instead to attack us for our observations, comments and feelings while continuing to dodge questions and avoid responding or sharing, you’ll just be validating these observations and experiences. Your call.</p>
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<p>Many, many people have already told you, on this and on other forums, that applying ED (binding) is not wise if financial aid is a concern. Yet you are asking if your son should apply ED at Penn. I think if you had asked whether to do SCEA Stanford or EA Chicago, the responses might have been different - but when you threw in the ED Penn, it may have felt to some people that you weren’t listening to repeated advice that ED is not appropriate for those who require financial aid.</p>
<p>ED MAY be appropriate for those who require FA–if you have a relatively simple financial situation (not self-employed or unusual assets) AND you would be willing to stretch to your limit to afford that first-choice school.</p>
<p>OP, there is no correct answer to your question, because no one can predict with complete confidence if applying early to any of these schools will be the one factor that will get your S admitted. No one can predict with 100% accuracy which of these schools will offer the best FA. People here can say that Penn admits generally do better with ED, and that Stanford’s aid packages are generally better and Chicago’s are generally worse. Yet your S could apply ED to Penn and get turned down. Or Stanford’s aid package could end up being less than expected. There are no guarantees.</p>
<p>You might also consider the downsides of each of your admission strategy choices, and see if you feel very strongly about having to live with one of them. At a gross level, if you are most concerned about maximizing financial aid, don’t do Penn ED. If you are most concerned about your son attending his first choice school, and/or having your son attend as highly ranked a college as possible, do Penn ED. </p>
<p>You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes you just might find, you get what you need. :)</p>
<p>Another variable would be if your son is applying to one of the specialized programs at Penn. The acceptance rate for the M&T (Jerome Fisher) or the Huntsman program is much lower than the rate for the university as a whole.</p>
<p>Son did apply and was accepted to some of the schools DadII’s son is looking at. Financial aid packages were sent from all schools. Son’s current school (p’ton) did not have the best package rather it was Penn’s and Colby’s. Even though current school had no loans it was Penn’s preferential packaging that really made a difference. No loans, no summer contribution, no work study…all which was included in other packages, no to mention the HUGE difference in Chicago’s overall package…thousands less than Penn, Colby, Vandy, Pton, Swat, MIT…</p>
<p>Son was accepted into Penn’s M&T RD, did not apply ED as financial aid was/is a huge factor for our family. Penn’s package was better than Harvard’s, CalTech, and Pton.</p>
<p>HOWEVER, (big however) after he accepted pton’s offer the package was changed, with one phone call from son, referring to Penn’s package. His package for the past 4 years has been better every year, causing him not to second guess turning down Penn. But the M&T program was a fabulous opportunity. 2 degrees (econ from wharton and biochemical engineering from school of eng) in 4 years. Quite the challenge.</p>
<p>He still questions his turning down West Point but that is another story.</p>
<p>I would again echo other posters in having your son look at other schools that have opportunities he would also be interested in where his chances of admittance and financial aid would be more in the matchy range vs. reach range.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Wow!! Congrats katwkittens! You should be proud!!</p>
<p>My older s applied to a school (not on this list of schools) ED and was accepted. FA (merit based, and with extra departmental awards thrown in over the years) was modest. If we had it to do over again, he’d (a) apply EA not ED (EA was available then-- though is no longer) and (b) he’d probably have applied to the engineering school rather than the A&S (though he started as a physics major and ended up as a mech E major). I think DS’s FA would have been different, though it’d have been merit, not need based.</p>
<p>However, all this said, my mother got sick and died between the time DS found out about ED and when he’d have found out about EA. Educateion was very important to her, and her knowing where DS was going to college–was priceless in my book. I am glad ds did ED and knew. Sure, a better aid package would have been great, but we didn’t need it per se, so attendance didn’t hinge upon it. If a strong FA pkg is essential, do NOT apply ED. Also, if DS isn’t sure what his top choice is, ED isn’t the way to go. OP, hope you haven’t gone dark on us again.</p>
<p>Fwiw, it’s good to remember that comparing financial aid packages ONLY work in the CURRENT year and ONLY for the student receiving the aid package.</p>
<p>The financial aid offers at highly selective schools from 2004 or even 2007 have become utterly meaningless. Add the recent changes at Harvard, Stanford, and similar schools to the recent economic crisis that has still to be analyzed properly and you have a very different landscape. </p>
<p>As katwkittens wrote, the devil is in the details. Advertised packages can change substantially by different policies regarding summer earnings, use of work-study, fine -tuning of the Profile versus the FAFSA, and the generosity in allowing outside scholarships to lower the students’ contributions. </p>
<p>All in all, I would say that the little that remained of “possible” negotiations for parents in the prior years has probably vanished along the Bear Stearns of this world. You can expect further restrictions to be imposed and less generosity from all but a handful of schools that have a PROFOUND commitment to financial aid, or a profound interest in attracting one of those “must-have” (and extremely rare) academic superstars. </p>
<p>However, it will also remain that it is easier to get something from the deepest pockets. :)</p>
<p>PS Fwiw, and if it was not clear from my previous posts, IMHO, the OP would make a rather unwise decision to listen to the sound of the ED sirens at Penn.</p>
<p>To the OP…IF your son’s number one choice is far and way ONLY UPenn AND you are very willing to pay the difference between the financial aid offered and the cost of attendance…then go for it.</p>
<p>If the school is NOT the number one choice…far and away. OR there is a question about the finances…then I would suggest NOT applying ED.</p>
<p>Re: Stanford…I’m sorry, but this would have to be my kid’s decision. Since it’s SCEA and therefore no ED aps too…I would again say…it would have to be my kid’s TOP choice for me to encourage that application.</p>
<p>Consider this: ED forces you to make a committment 10 months before you show up at campus, and 6 months before you make that committment if you are doing RD or EA. </p>
<p>Personally I would strongly discourage my child from applying ED to any school.</p>
<p>10 months is a long time in the life of a 17 year old.</p>
<p>ED may not be a good idea for the student who is applying to a college that has a feature that the student might later regret – like an unusual curriculum or a location on the opposite side of the country.</p>
<p>But it seems to work out OK for some students whose first choices are more conventional. My daughter was one of them. She was accepted at her ED school and never regretted it. </p>
<p>But the most important consideration in terms of ED is money. My daughter was not a candidate for financial aid. If she had been, I don’t think ED would have been a good choice because it eliminates the possibility of comparing financial aid packages.</p>