<p>My son is a recruited athlete and our family is definitely in a high-need, low-EFC situation. The Coach wants him to apply ED. Of course there are no athletic scholarships in D3, and no merit aid available, so we will be very dependent upon the need-based grant aid. He really loves the school, so from that perspective ED makes sense. We hear the normal warnings regarding financial aid being more risky in ED. So it seems like a judgment call and quite dependent upon the specific's school's track record of generosity. Tufts claims to "meet 100% of need", and within that we may be required to take up to $5K in subsidized loans per year. Has anybody had any direct experience with ED and financial aid and grants vs loans at Tufts? Thanks</p>
<p>My sons friend got in last year ED. He got 75% tuition covered by financial aid</p>
<p>My son is a first year student at Tufts this fall and is a recruited athlete and applied ED.
We did apply for aid but knew our EFC was very high. His aid award was exactly what was predicted from the net price calculator. He received a small grant, a Tufts Loan and a Stafford Loan(5k total in loans) as well as work study. I do not think he will have the time to take advantage of his work study because between the time committment for his sport and his studies he has no free time. (he is finding this quite stressful by the way)</p>
<p>So I think you should complete the net price calculator and see what you come up with. Yes, I would expect at least 5K in loans yearly</p>
<p>My son also applied ED last year, although he was not a recruited athlete. We found that the net price calculator was within $1,000 (with us taking that hit!) of our aid package. We did get a Tufts loan, a subsidized loan ($5,000), work-study, and a grant. </p>
<p>i suggest taking the time to fill in the data on the calculator as accurately as you can. If there is a discrepancy when you get your package, you will have a basis for asking for a review from the financial aid office.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that you are responsible for paying (up front or in a payment plan) the money awarded for work-study. They deduct it on the financial award package as though you do not have to pay it, but you do. All it means is that the student can work for $8-10 an hour during the school year to make the money.</p>
<p>We are in the exact same position with Tufts. Our complicating factor is that the coach really wants my son to apply ED, and there is no guarantee of support in the admissions process or a spot on the team if he applies RD. I think he will get in RD anyway, but we are definately taking a risk that way. College admissions should not be so complicated!</p>
<p>Xwords59,
We have decided to apply ED. Right now we are working to get everything completed and submitted early in case this crazy storm knocks out our power and/or online access. In our case, our son definitely wants to attend Tufts and play for the team, so it seems logical for us to apply ED. The only risk we run is: Will we get enough need-based grant aid so that we can afford to send him? If not and we truly can not afford to send him (we are in a high-need category), then it is my understanding that we can inform the school and be released from the binding ED offer. And we would know that in time for him to still apply RD to other schools and with luck (though not likely) perhaps get athletic dept support from his second choice or some of the other schools that were interested in him athletically. The Tufts admissions people have assured us by phone that the level of aid offered will go according to the same formula whether ED, ED2 or RD. We’d rather get it decided early, have the coach’s support, and if it doesn’t work out still have the flexibility to go elsewhere if necessary. Always some risk, but ED with athletic support seems to minimize it for us and give him his best shot at his first choice. Best of luck…</p>
<p>Firsttimeout - what you are describing makes sense - if you get an offer you can afford, you accept it and you are done. But you give up the chance to compare offers from other schools, and it could cost you a lot of money; you will never know.</p>
<p>BTW, don’t worry too much about the storm. The Tufts coach told us that the deadline for ED1 could be extended to Nov 15, and there is also ED2 with a later deadline.</p>
<p>The issue for ED2 is that before you hear the Tufts ED2 decision, you will also need to file other applications under RD for any backup schools. So additional work and expense. If you get accepted at Tufts under ED2, they will expect you to immediately withdraw the other applications. I would definitely rather go ED1 than ED2.
RD does offer the one potential advantage of being able to compare and possibly leverage offers against each other. But for us, as long as our grant offer comes in where the net price calculator indicates we are, we will be OK. That will have to serve as our point of comparison.
Tufts is a great fit for our son both academically and athletically. He really loved the overnight visit, spent time with his future teammates, he is very comfortable with the coaching staff, the size of the school is ideal and the range of majors covers everything he is looking for. Happy to send him there as long as we can afford to do so.</p>
<p>To follow up on my original post, our son was accepted and we received the preliminary notice of the aid award about 2 weeks ago. Tufts really came thru with a very generous offer of grant aid covering 90% of the cost of attendance with no loans required for the first year (of course due to our precarious financial situation).</p>
<p>The purpose of my original post was concern that we felt compelled to apply ED in order to guarantee the athletic dept support for our son’s application, but were warned heavily by consultants and friends that doing so would jeopardize our ability to get a strong aid package or to negotiate with any leverage if needed. The general wisdom seems to be that you will get lowballed on aid if you apply ED. Tufts official position from both Admissions and Financial Aid offices was that they evaluate an application and a family’s financial need the same whether applying ED of RD.</p>
<p>The latter certainly seemed to be the case for us. We are thrilled with the aid offered, and also very pleased to have the process decided early. Go Jumbos!</p>
<p>Yeah, those consultants are fools. Most of them are, actually. I’ve met some really great folks who truly know what they are doing, but by and large I am wholly unimpressed with the often corrosive “insight” those folks have. </p>
<p>Yay for your son and for your family! So excited to have him in the Jumbo family!</p>
<p>I’m sad but not surprised to read this thread. My h.s. D came home tonight all excited about finding Tufts from her counselor. She’s probably a “stretch” case for Tufts…but not at all impossible. Yet we won’t qualify for any fin. aid. Tufts won’t give any merit aid, and we cannnot make up the difference. That’s what really get to me. These expensive privates create a total “huge haves” and have nots culture. People above the Fafsa limits but not super rich, simply can’t make it work. Oh well. I’m sure this sounds like complaining, and I’m definately not complaining about our station in life. It’s just that you’d think these upper privates would want more balance. But i’ll take the advice of someone earlier, and “follow the money”.</p>
<p>Have you run the Net Price Calculator on the Tufts admissions website? I am not a pro at this, but believe that qualifying for Federal Aid and need-based grant aid directly from the college are not necessarily the same thing. The FAFSA form is used for the application, yes, but you might find that the schools (Tufts or other) may still offer grant aid to families that are over the threshold for Federal Aid. Best of luck…</p>
<p>@MitchKreyben: I can feel your pain, but if Tufts is a stretch for your kid stat-wise, there probably wouldn’t be merit aid for her even if Tufts had it. That’s because merit aid is an incentive and is awarded to students who for one reason or another are particularly desirable to the school’s overall student body. Generally, it is awarded to attract kids who might otherwise not attend the school.</p>
<p>My kids got merit aid offers from their safety schools. My sisters’ kids got scholarship + merit aid the same way – by applying to schools that, either academically or demographically, wanted kids like hers. Syracuse, Northeastern, Tulane are some of the schools known to be generous in their merit awards. </p>
<p>As a parent, it’s natural to feel badly when you can’t afford something your kid thinks she wants, but a good fit is more than that. A good fit has to be affordable, too. Good luck.</p>
<p>A very savvy College Counselor I know talks about personality fits and financial fits, and importance of having academic safeties and financial safeties. She points out that it’s easy to think of those as mutually exclusive lists, but “value” (as she defines it) in education comes from identifying the points of overlaps. It’s shrewd and important advice.</p>
<p>What she tells me privately, though, is that this advice mostly goes unheeded by parents who are uncomfortable sharing financial information with their children, such that it is impossible to create a list of schools with finances in mind. My own family was like this, actually, and I doubt it helped myself, my siblings, or (more importantly) my parents to not talk about it.</p>