<p>SAT: 1310 (cr + m)
Rank: 5/363
GPA: UW 3.9
Female going for chemical engineering
Great ECs and reccomendations and essay
First in family to attend a 4 year college
From local area
In contact with a coach who wants to recruit me badly. He highly suggested applying ED1 as he believes that I would be able to get more aid this way, and that I would get more of a "push" in admissions from him. Stevens is my #1 school, but ED1 scares me as finances are my biggest issues. My family makes 80k a year, which may seem like a lot, but in my state puts us at mid-low middle class. I want to make sure that I won't have too much debt and I'm willing to go to a worse school if I can accumulate a significant less amount of debt there. The forums here make it seem like Stevens gives equal aid for ED1, ED2, and RD, but the coach was really pushing for me to apply ED1 if finances are my biggest issues. Any advice?</p>
<p>I would do regular decision in order to evaluate all of your aid offers. I do not believe ED1 or ED2 offers are any better than regular decision offers. If anything, they should be making their best offer with RD, knowing that they have competition. </p>
<p>They seem to vary what they look for each year, so I don’t want to venture a guess. The ED1 is not binding; if you feel it is not enough money, you can decline. </p>
<p>“At Stevens, Early Decision is binding when an accepted student submits a tuition deposit by the deadline listed on the admissions timeline. Students admitted during Early Decision will have the opportunity to review their estimated financial aid and scholarship package before making a commitment to attend Stevens.”</p>
<p>Good luck! Sporty female engineering students are in short supply, so I’m sure you will have several offers.</p>
<p>Thank you for the advice! I may still apply to Stevens ED1, and if my financial offer is not substantial, then I will attend another school (most likely Rowan) instead! Luckily this past SAT my math went up 50 points (to 720), so my M + Cr is 1360, still not 1400, but better than 1310. I liked other schools that I saw (Renssealer, VT, RIT), but my heart is at Stevens. </p>
<p>So I was gladly accepted into Stevens :). I received $24k in merit aid, $13k in grants and some more aid in loans totaling to $42,500. This is more aid than I expected, and if all works out, I will be attending Stevens next year! </p>