<p>My good friend is a a single parent with limited financial resources. s1 is in a very good school with excellent financial aid. S2 is also a good student but not as good as S1. He wants to apply to Stevens ED. I explained to mom (who is from another country and not a college graduate) that ED is binding and if finances is an issue, which it is he should apply RD and apply to other schools in order to see which school makes sense financially.
Both her sons a really pressuring her to allow him to apply ED. The s wants to do Comp Sci.
Comments?</p>
<p>I will say what I have been posting in other threads: if you want to compare offers, you must apply regular decision.</p>
<p>ED is fine for those who want Stevens as their first choice and are not too concerned about merit money. Stevens wants to see CSS profile <em>before</em> the decision deadline because they want to see how much (merit) money you actually need to attend. FAFSA is not due until Feb 15 for all applicants but the ED applicants are required to file CSS profile earlier than FAFSA.</p>
<p>And the CSS profile will unmask every little financial detail possible. It is extremely thorough.</p>
<p>^ I agree but would add: With ED you must be prepared to take or leave this one (possible) aid offer, so the only question would be: Can we afford this ED aid offer? This decision must be made without comparing other possible offers, which could more or less advantageous, or there might be no other offer. The hard part is knowing that applying ED may provide the best chance of acceptance. Tough decision!</p>
<p>So we went to an admissions presentation. </p>
<p>They told us that there was no strict rubric for merit awards. They view each application on a case by case basis and consider GPA, test scores, ECs. Therefore they would not give any cutoff numbers regarding GPA and test scores.</p>
<p>They also said that admissions does not look at CSS: they figure merit apart from the financial aid dept. Only fin aid uses CSS for needs purposes. </p>
<p>They also said that last year <em>half of their acceptances</em> went to early admissions candidates. Apparently early admissions <em>acceptance rate</em> for last year was 70% (ED1 and ED2 combined average). </p>
<p>I talked to a current student who said that he got “nothing” from Stevens. But talking further he said he got enough to make it comparable to paying in full at a public college. Don’t know what combination of merit/needs based he got. </p>
<p>Stevens counselor who gave the presentation said they are need-blind.</p>
<p>I am leaning very much towards applying to Stevens as an ED II applicant. On the common app I had to accept that I understood the following: </p>
<p>“If you are accepted under an Early Decision plan, you must promptly withdraw the applications submitted to other colleges and universities and make no additional applications to any other university in any country. If you are an Early Decision candidate and are seeking financial aid, you need not withdraw other applications until you have received notification about financial aid from the admitting Early Decision institution.”</p>
<p>So if you are going to seek financial aid (as I shall be doing) I won’t have to make my final decision on committing myself to the college until I know the aid I will be getting. My EFC is very low, and I have a great need. On their website I vaguely remember that they cover 20-80% of need. When I did my interview I said the one thing that could potentially prevent me from attending would be the fiscal reality of going to the school. Although, considering their phenomenal return on investment rating and job placement after graduation… I may be very lenient on how much dept I would be willing to incur.</p>
<p>If you feel good about the school and the program/major, and if they enable attendance, I see no problem with taking Federal student loans totaling $20K to $25K over four years. For schools with limited endowments, I actually like loans, because they enable more students with need to attend.</p>
<p>off2neverland from what I understand, when you apply ED1 or 2 at Stevens, you should receive your estimated financial aid package along with your acceptance. Then you have 3 weeks or so to send in your deposit, which commits you to attending. If the aid offer isn’t enough, you may decline.</p>
<p>Interesting food for thought . Thanks for the comments.</p>