<p>DebateMom, you’re exactly describing our situation. A couple years ago my son applied ED to his top choice college. It is a school that meets full need w/o loans. Our income was around 58K, with only a mortgage debt (appropriate to our income level) and we had some not-outrageous credit card debt at the time (2-3 thousand, if I recall). Our income was entirely salary (plus a little in unemployment because my husband has a job that has two months off seasonally every year). We have no investments, no retirement savings, no second property, etc. In other words, very simple finances, and a typical American income for a family of four.</p>
<p>I read a lot about how students who needed FA aid should never apply ED, but I thought this through very carefully and also communicated via private messaging here on CC with a number people in similar situations who did so, and I came to the conclusion that the FA offer was not going to be all that unpredictable in our case. (On top of this the college itself had its own FA calculator available at its website.)</p>
<p>From my persepctive, given our circumstances, any little boost that ED might confer was worth pursuing.</p>
<p>My son was accepted and the FA offer was nearly to the dollar what the college’s FA calculator predicted. (I made sure to enter very accurate numbers.) My son is a sophomore now, and we and he are thankful everyday to the college for their generosity. I also think if a student and parent(s) examine their own situation carefully as it pertains to need-based aid and understand the FA policies of the college, and it’s the student’s top choice, then ED can be an excellent decision.</p>
<p>There are only a handful of schools to which this applies, all of them are tough to get into. But if ED helps (people will argue how much it really helps after you factor out recruited athletes and legacies), then to me it was a no-brainer.</p>
<p>Of course, you can’t compare offers with other schools. For some people this is very important. For us it was not. My son was ready to commit to this college if they accepted him, we (mom and dad) thought it was a superb choice for him if he was lucky enough to get to go there, and our question was only whether or not it would be do-able, not whether it was the best possible deal he could find.</p>
<p>Anyway, for us it worked out beautifully. However, unlike perhaps that poster you mentioned who’s possibly trying to get out of ED for other reasons, my son was not hedging bets, nor was he being cagey or indecisive or anything else. He was not overly romantic about “falling in love” with a certain school. He saw quite a number he knew he’d be terrifically happy to attend, made a choice about which would be his first choice among them, and was willing to declare his committment to that choice.</p>
<p>From my perspective, not only is he attending a thoroughly wonderful college, but the school’s generosity is making it possible. And, he got his answer early in his senior year and the rest of it was less stressful (for all of us) and happy with anticipation.</p>