A couple of schools abandoned their Early Decision programs. I remember hearing about Harvard a while back, although most schools haven’t followed suit. The explanation that I saw in the article had to do with giving low-income students a chance to compare financial aid. You’re right that the opt-out is available, but personally I think the reason had to do with more of the anxiety of making something like a huge commitment.</p>
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For a first-gen low-income college student, trying to parse all that stuff might be a little intimidating, especially if you don’t have a good support network at the school. For Harvard, ED just didn’t serve its purposes, especially since the majority of the people who apply to Harvard would probably go if they got in and could afford it. </p>
<p>One thing that I think affects this is that American parents don’t really like to talk to their kids about money. I see a huge amount of threads by kids who really don’t know how much their parents make or the value of their assets or even if they’ve been saving, so they have an unrealistic / skewed idea of what their parents can actually afford.</p>
<p>@vossron,
I’m not so sure you’re right about that. My family doesn’t have any personal experience with ED, because finances have been too much of a factor in our family’s college decisions for anybody to apply ED, but we have received many a briefing from different colleges’ financial aid officers and been told that if you apply ED, AND IF that college meets your financial need, THEN you are required to attend. We were also told that “financial need” is determined by each individual college, based on what you submit in terms of CSS Profile or FAFSA. It’s not determined by you.</p>
<p>I will admit that we were also told that if my sons applied ED and could not attend because the financial packages did not meet their financial needs, then they could reneg without consequences. But in all cases the financial aid officers at all colleges made it clear – if finances are an issue, you should not apply ED. They expect that those who apply ED WILL attend, as long as they meet 100% of their financial need, as determined by the college. They determine your financial need when they put together your package. They don’t want to bother with people who are trying to play the system for more money when filling their ED slots. And I think that’s fair. ED is good for some. Not good for most. That’s been our experience with a whole range of colleges.</p>
<p>Imagine if it were not so. A student would be required to attend, and would then be expelled when the bill couldn’t be paid. Imagine the bad press if colleges did that. It doesn’t happen.</p>
<p>You are almost right: “… we were also told that if my sons applied ED and could not attend because the financial packages did not meet their financial needs, then they could reneg without consequences.” But it’s not reneging, since the release is part of the contract.</p>
<p>ED is good for some. Not good for most.</p>
<p>Quite true, but there is simply no danger in applying ED needing financial aid, although it is a bad idea if it’s not the one dream school. The huge drawback is not being able to compare packages, but at the one dream school it’s more a question of “Can we afford it?”</p>
<p>Here’s a little different take on it. My kid had very high stats, had a 1st choice school, and needed a mountain of financial aid. For us, if his ED app gave him even the slightest boost in admissions to his meets-full-need-w/o-loans school (and one where you can get an estimate of aid in advance), then applying ED gave him potentially his best shot at getting the aid he needed.</p>
<p>If he did not get accepted to a similarly generous school, then we could have barely afforded community college. We did not need to compare financial aid packages. In our case the aid would either make attendance possible, or it would not. Not a subtle call about how much we ‘feel’ like we could afford.</p>
<p>Had his application been in the RD pool… who knows, maybe he would have gotten in anyway, or maybe not. By applying ED he got the good news and a world of anxiety was relieved. Had he not gotten in, he had 12 more applications to other generous schools ready to go. But since his ED school is the one he would have chosen above all others had he been accepted everywhere… then why not put his commitment to attend right there on the table and go for it?</p>
<p>I think in our case it was a fantastic choice. Could have even been a critically important choice.</p>
<p>Addendum… but I have had this argument SOOO many times here on CC, I’ll let it rest here. If anyone wants a contrarian view on ED for students with financial need, just PM me. :)</p>
<p>Yes, it is indeed those who applied ED needing FA and got it that present the best testimonials for the program. Schools not only want to lock in money at ED time, but also top talent. :)</p>
<p>My kid had very high stats, had a 1st choice school, and needed a mountain of financial aid. For us, if his ED app gave him even the slightest boost in admissions to his meets-full-need-w/o-loans school (and one where you can get an estimate of aid in advance), then applying ED gave him potentially his best shot at getting the aid he needed.</p>
<p>In the above case, applying ED is a great idea.</p>
<p>But for the family who doesn’t do their homework and doesn’t realize how high their EFC is or the student is applying ED to a school that doesn’t meet need (NYU), then it can be a bad idea.</p>