<p>I am student interested in applying to ED for Penn.
Financial aid is a concern for my family, but I really want to apply to Penn ED because I know it's the school I want to go. However, I am also planning to apply to Uchicago and MIT at the same time.</p>
<p>I think I might be the first to ask this question:</p>
<p>If I withdraw from Penn ED due to financial matters(which is possible, I emailed the admissions), but gets accepted to Uchicago or MIT, would Uchicago and MIT accept me although I applied ED? I don't know if this happened to some people.</p>
<p>I know that three schools will release their decisions around the same time, and if I get into Penn ED, I need to withdraw from two early action schools.</p>
<p>But what if I withdraw from Penn because it's too expensive? Is my application to those two early schools still valid?</p>
<p>I am planning to apply to Penn ED no matter what because I know I will get some aid since I am a US citizen and my dad's annual income is quite below the average. And I really want to get my degree from Penn.
But I would still like to see if anyone had this experience or give me some advice about it.</p>
<p>Please don't tell me, "Don't apply ED because you want financial aid, and you won't be able to compare packages." I am willing to go to Penn if I get in early. I just want to know if anyone actually had such experience before.</p>
<p>You should check how much aid you might receive using Penn’s financial aid calculator. Penn doesn’t include any loans in the financial aid packages, so that’s a plus!</p>
<p>Yep, I know Penn has such good financial aid.
However, I don’t know if Penn will be that generous and give me the aid I want/need.
But I know I am applying to ED for sure now…
I just want to consider the worst case…</p>
<p>Anyways, thanks for the reply! Haha, any chance you are applying to Penn?</p>
<p>Yeah! I did the financial aid calculator and was happy with what I got, hopefully it’s accurate. I think though that if you don’t like the amount you are rewarded with you can appeal and get more financial aid, I’m not certain though.</p>
<p>the idea that ED students get less financial aid is a myth. And in your case I have heard the dean of Admissions at penn say that the two (admission time and financial aid) are completely unrelated. don’t worry about it</p>
<p>Several things to pull apart here and be clear:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Penn will not give you less aid if you are accepted ED vs. RD. That may happen at some colleges, but not Penn or any other college at that level of prestige and selectivity. They use a formula based only on need, and they use it equally for everyone, no matter when they were accepted.</p></li>
<li><p>There is nothing wrong with applying to Penn ED and to Chicago and MIT EA at the same time. Plenty of people do it. If any of the schools wanted to prohibit it, they would change their rules. (Brown, for instance, used to forbid ED applicants from applying EA anywhere else. But it changed its rules a couple of years ago to eliminate that. And of course HYPS all forbid their EA applicants from applying EA most other places or ED anywhere. On the other side, Georgetown and BC say you can’t apply EA there if you are applying anyplace ED.) </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Chicago has been making grumpy noises about this, and it wouldn’t shock me if they DID change their rules. So pay attention before you apply. I don’t think MIT is likely to change. And Penn won’t change its rule, either.</p>
<ol>
<li> If you are accepted at Penn ED, you don’t have to withdraw your other applications until you see your financial aid award and decide it’s OK. You have the right to decline Penn’s offer if you can’t afford what you would have to pay. But you have to do that pretty quickly, within a few weeks. You can’t wait until the spring to see what other places might offer. And once you turn Penn down, you can’t go back into the admission pool as a RD candidate; you will be done at Penn.</li>
</ol>
<p>If Chicago or MIT accepts you, too, you will probably get your financial aid offers from them in time to compare them against Penn. If one of them offers you so much more aid that you feel you have to choose it over Penn, even though Penn is your first choice, you should definitely call up the Penn financial aid office first. They will either meet the better offer or tell you they can’t and wish you luck in Hyde Park/Cambridge.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for such a detailed response, JHS!</p>
<p>I didn’t know that I could wait until Penn’s financial aid is given and then consider my aid option first before I withdraw from my early action schools. </p>
<p>Also, if I decline Penn’s ED offer due to financial aid, I am done with Penn, right? No regular decision round for me, is that right? I think that’s what you meant in one of your paragraphs…</p>
<p>Hey riyukoni, how did you contact the deans? I called the admissions few times and many of them answering my calls were very knowledgeable… thanks for the response!!</p>
<p>My son has the exact same situation. He also applied for these three schools, and have the same financial issues as well. I am wondering if you get accepted by MIT and Penn, how hard it will be to drop Penn?
By the way, did you really apply and interview for these three schools?</p>
<p>Yes I also applied to those schools and had penn and mit interviews.
I want to end up at Penn, so I don’t mind going to penn over mit or chicago.
But the financial aid matters, and I am not sure how I would go through the process.
Right now, I am just wishing all the admissions and financial aid considerations are in my favor.</p>
<p>Hi,
Just so you know, if you want to withdraw from the ED pool you just have to send an email to <a href=“mailto:records@admissions.upenn.edu”>records@admissions.upenn.edu</a> with your name, birthdate, and message of withdrawal. You can move to the RD pool (the admissions office won’t see that you’ve changed when they review the RD apps) or withdraw altogether.</p>
<p>Withdrawing from ED seems like a risky maneuver. I read that you can get out of it easily if the financial numbers don’t work out for you. However, it seems like it could hurt your chances RD and possibly with other schools. You did sign an agreement. I don’t know. It just looks indecisive ( which is the definition of being a teenager). Could it be held against you?</p>
<p>On the other hand, it may be good advice for someone competing with you for a spot at the school to suggest that withdrawing is easy and without repercussions. </p>
<p>Should change my middle name to paranoid.:)</p>