To ED or not?

Applying to College
1

<p>Originally, my first choice was Georgetown since I want to study IR and I was planning to EA there and a few other places. However, lately I've really warmed to Barnard because its smaller and seems to have a more intellectual environment. Plus its in NYC and being an international student (with American citizenship though) who lives on the other side of the world (Australia) I may not get to visit colleges before choosing somewhere to go and I've been to New York multiple times and have family there and in New Jersey, but I have never been to D,C. Also, Barnard offers ED which gives an increased chance of admission (even with the higher quality applicants taken into account) which is appealing. Beyond that, IB diploma graduates can go straight into sophmore year at Barnard. </p>

<p>I've been very sick this semester and missed an entire half of the semester of school so my grades will be much worse than usual, which is has also made me look at college admissions differently. I know my councillor will include all these circumstances in my school report but it still stresses me. Anyway, I know I would be really happy at Barnard (as much as I can know about any college) and my only concern is financial aid. My parents are in that awkward income area where we probably won't get as much as we need (around 100k I think). Although I thought that having a year less of tuition from entering as a sophmore would probably offset the balance of possibly getting more aid somewhere else. A shorter college life would also be especially nice since I'm considering law school. I'm worried about getting into a great school and I think this might be a good option,</p>

<p>Any advice would be great!</p>

2

<p>I personally would not do ED at all if you are unable to visit colleges. I know of many people including myself who loved colleges on paper and hated them in person, it is too risky to commit to a school that you have never seen…</p>

3

<p>whether I ED or not I will probably have to commit to a school before I am able to visit</p>

4

<p>Generally speaking, ED is not the best option for prospective students that will need FA. You could benefit from comparing financial aid offers - you cannot do that if you ED at one school and get in.</p>

5

<p>I have two concerns:

I sounds like you might need one more semester to right your grades. ED would hurt you there.

If FA is really a concern then ED is probably not the best way. You will get an FA offer with your acceptance and a set amount of time to accept or reject it. That offer will come well ahead of any other financial offers you might get. You get nothing to compare or even use in discussions (some people are able to get a preferred U to match offers from peer schools).</p>

6

<p>Have you tried the Net Price Calculator on both school’s financial aid pages?</p>