<p>What happens when you get in to a school ED (for this situation, lets pretend the dream school is Carnegie Mellon) but then for some reason (maybe because you don't have money or maybe because that school isn't your dream school anymore).</p>
<p>Then, would it be possible for that student to say that they don't have enough money and then cancel their ED application and then apply again to around 12'ish schools (including Carnegie Mellon) just to see if any other schools will offer him better financial aid</p>
<p>Btw, this is all hypothetical. I know it sounds stupid, but i was just wondering if this would be possible</p>
<p>I don’t actually know all too much about this, but I believe when you apply ED, you sign some sort of legal form stating that if you financial aid package goes through and you are admitted, you must go. I think then, that if you said that financial aid package would work, you are committed.</p>
<p>Accepted ED means you are supposed to attend. They tend to let you out of it if you cannot handle finances after being told of Fin-Aid package. They are generally pretty lenient in accepting that excuse but as a matter of ethics it should not be used unless real.</p>
<p>If let out of ED you can apply elsewhere except to the same school – college’s allow you to apply once per year and the college certainly won’t let you apply after you reject ED claiming you cannot afford the school.</p>
<p>you can cancel an ED acceptance if you feel the financial aid is too low. You can’t just say that it is too low and not go though (if it really is not too low and you can afford to pay). I hope that is clear.</p>
<p>i.e. a family making 100k a year gets 30k off in tuition, let’s say. thus, they have to pay 20k for college. they can afford to do that so they must commit to the school.</p>
<p>PS i have no idea how financial aid works so the above example could be completely off. point is, is that you cant just say that the college isnt giving enough aid. you have to have a legit reason why you need more aid.</p>
<p>If you don’t get enough financial aid, you can decline the ED, no penalty except that you can’t apply to that ED school during RD rounds. There’s also the penalty that you may realize during RD that the ED school’s offer was the best of all, but you won’t be able to take advantage of it. </p>
<p>If you apply ED, you can’t change your mind because it isn’t your “dream school” any more. Well, you could, but you’re taking a risk. Your ED school might list you as someone who walked away from their ED commitment. That might affect your chances of being admitted to other similarly selective schools. CC opinion varies on this–some people say it won’t have an effect, others say it will–but I sure wouldn’t want to take the chance. </p>
<p>Another risk is that you’re putting your school counselor, your classmates who are applying to your ED school, and future students at your high school at a disadvantage. Your GC also signs the ED agreement, stating that you will attend the ED school if admitted. The ED school may be less inclined in the future to admit students from your high school, either ED or RD, if your GC isn’t able to assure them that ED admits will be enrolling. This will not make your GC happy with you, which is not a good thing during college application season.</p>