<p>I applied to Mount Holyoke (ED) and Smith this year. MHC rejected me, while Smith accepted. However, I wasn't able to submit the fin. aid requirements to Smith, so I have no idea how much aid I can get.</p>
<p>I am taking a gap year, and will be re-applying to both, along with several other colleges. I am just concerned with the financial aid. Should I just do regular decision to all of them and compare later on?</p>
<p>Or if i'm going for ED, should I choose Mount Holyoke (I'm still in love with this school), or Smith who seems to like me more? </p>
<p>Also, what do you think I should add to my application? I am doing lots of volunteer work, summer art classes and a tutoring job. I also got the highest award given by my school, as well as two other significant awards to add to the app.</p>
<p>If you want to compare financial aid offers between schools, definitely apply Regular Decision. As far as strengthening your application for next year, are your SAT scores as high as you can get them? I would think the biggest factors are always grades and test scores. You won’t be able to change your grades, but trying to get up your test scores might be worth thinking about. Don’t enroll in community college as you could jeopardize your standing as a first-time freshman admit when you apply to 4 year schools again next year.</p>
<p>If you find Smith attractive: I think you should make an appt with them about Fin Aid and see what can be done for Sept. Tell them your circumstances – that unless an exception can be made, you’ll have to at best wait until Winter term (if they even do that). </p>
<p>Emphasize how much you’d like to attend. Otherwise, you’ll have to gap year and reapply.</p>
<p>However to bank on getting into MHC next year – with no guarantee of fin aid from them or Smith – is thin ice. Work on Smith now. See what happens-- but don’t focus on MHC that much. They rejected you once (not even WL). That indicates what will likely happen again.</p>
<p>ED is only good for those don’t care about financial aid. If financial aid is a critical factor, then do EA or regular. Although ED is likely to increase your chance, it would do you no good if you cannot make early decision anyway.</p>
<p>I don’t think I’ll be taking the SAT’s (i’m not from the US, but am a citizen). I’m thinking about SAT II’s though.</p>
<p>Sadly there’s nothing I can do with Smith for this year, but that’s alright since I was planning to have a gap year anyway. I just regret not submitting it on time–deferring would’ve been so much easier! And I agree about MHC, what are my chances when I even didn’t make it to the WL sigh…</p>
<p>ED is binding, so if you are not sure you want to attend that college, or can’t pay for it, don’t do it. Why weren’t you able to submit the FAFSA to Smith? Did you receive any other acceptances that you could accept and then apply to transfer to Mount Holyoke?</p>
<p>I applied only to MHC and Smith. But I got into the top universities in my country, which I consider my safety schools if I don’t get accepted this year.</p>
<p>Can’t I back out of the ED agreement if I show proof I really can’t afford it?</p>
<p>However, you won’t generally be able to compare financial aid offers of various schools with an ED school. So if the ED school’s financial aid makes it just barely affordable to where a better financial aid offer that you do not know whether you will get from another school could swing the decision to the other school, you will be in a dilemma.</p>
<p>This won’t be a problem if the ED school is your clear first choice even if it is just barely affordable, but it is likely most students will have a range of net price where the school is in consideration but would no longer be the clear first choice.</p>
<p>Yes you can back out if you can’t afford it. It just means you have fewer options for US schools and can’t negotiate your FA at all in the schools you are accepted into. Why weren’t you able to submit your FA material?</p>
<p>I guess you idea of ED is that it will give you the best odds of getting in. It depends on the school. I have seen people bet on ED just to be deferred to RD. I think you first need to understand the weaknesses of your application. My niece applied ED to a school and was deferred. They said her ACT was too low. She took it again and re-submitted in Feb. they admitted her for Spring and now she is appealing for Fall. If your problem turns out to be your GPA then you have fewer options to improve it. Do not get stuck with a school. You can always transfer. Also look for others that might give you a better FA package. I am sure you can find a great school that will not put you in debt.</p>
<p>@ddahwan Does that also apply for the highly selective schools? I’ve heard that most people who apply to Ivy Leagues are nearly the same in grades and all, but they still are rejected even after being deferred.</p>
<p>No. In my son’s school a lot of kids were deferred from Ivies in ED (Princeton, Harvard, Cornell) but were accepted in RD. Sometimes Ivies picks the best of the crop the first time instead of just the people that really want to commit as it happens with colleges like Tufts.</p>
sigh…</p>