<p>Hey...I want to apply ED to my dream school, but I'm afraid that I will not receive enough financial aid. If I get accepted ED but do not receive a sufficient financial aid package, am I allowed to withdraw from the school? Does this look bad to other universities? </p>
<p>Thankssss</p>
<p>You probably will be allowed to withdraw if you can demonstrate that the college did not meet your DEMONSTRABLE need with their financial aid package. If they offer you full tuition finaid, but in loans, then you have to take it because that will meet your full demonstrable need. So be wary of that.</p>
<p>If you can demonstrate to the school that you NEED more financial aid, yes, you can withdraw. But since most schools make an effort to give enough financial aid to all accepted students, and since it’s not that easy to prove that you must have more, betting on being able to withdraw is not a good idea. </p>
<p>As a rule, unless you’re pretty sure that you will be able to afford the college (even if your financial aid is a bit lower than expected), don’t apply there ED.</p>
<p>You can but you have to have a pretty good reason for it and the timing has to be just right. Also, it depends on the school. A small school probably cares more about withdrawls than a large school with plenty of students.</p>
<p>Well, let’s get real here. They can’t force you to attend. They won’t sue you for breach of contract because even if they win their damages would be approximately zero and they don’t want to establish a reputation as a place that screws ED admits by lowballing them on FA and then suing them if they walk. They can bad-mouth you to other schools which could hurt your chances of admission elsewhere, but if you’ve got a plausible case—e.g., you have $40K in need which they offered to meet entirely by loans, and you really can’t afford to start your career $160K in debt—then some other school might take a chance on you anyway. It’s a bit of a game of chicken. That said, ED is a bit of a gamble for applicants with a lot of financial need. Schools will calculate need differently, and offer very different mixes of grants and self-help. applying ED gives you no chance to shop around for the best deal.</p>
<p>Won’t the timing of any FA awards from the ED school preclude you from applying to most other colleges?</p>
<p>ED doesn’t restrict you from applying to other colleges. You can apply to as many as you’d like; you just have to withdraw all your other applications once you get a doable financial aid offer from the ED school.</p>
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<p>This is the key. If for example you apply ED to Penn or Dartmouth and leave in an application to HYPS, which clearly have aid in a different league, I doubt any of those colleges will accept you.</p>
<p>If the situation is that your family just can’t afford their EFC and you will go to your state college, that’s no problem.</p>
<p>If the school does not meet 100% of need, and money is an issue, DO NOT apply ED. If it does meet need, most 100% schools don’t pull fast ones like all loans and many have loan caps. You can use most schools’ calculators and call them for info to get a very good read on what to expect to pay before applying. Some will even do an actual package for you called an ‘early read.’</p>
<p>The others potentially harmed are your counselor and future applicants from your high school. Colleges are known to punish them by rejecting everyone for awhile. Your counselor is supposed to fully explain the contract to you and he/she signs it along with you and your parents.</p>
<p>Can you apply ED and other non restrictive EAs at the same time?</p>
<p>"ED doesn’t restrict you from applying to other colleges. You can apply to as many as you’d like; you just have to withdraw all your other applications once you get a doable financial aid offer from the ED school. "</p>
<p>I believe this is incorrect. You have to withdraw your other applications once you have been accepted ED, not after evaluating the aid offer.</p>
<p>From the common app ED agreement:</p>
<p>“If you are accepted under an early decision plan, you must promptly withdraw the applications submitted to other colleges and universities and make no additional applications. If you are an early decision candidate and are seeking financial aid, you need not withdraw other applications until you have received notification about financial aid.”</p>
<p>I suppose some colleges might have different policies, but it’s true for any school that accepts the common app at least.</p>
<p>^^ Thanks for the clarification.</p>
<p>Don’t ED aid offers come with or very shortly after the acceptance? If not, why wouldn’t everyone just apply for aid and keep their other apps in?</p>
<p>Ara114 note that EFC can be 100% which makes this me choke on paying the full freight, 50K, but 'dems the brakes. First check out what you think you might be able to receive by doing a est. financial aid calculator. </p>
<p>If you go ED then you eliminate merit or financial aid possiblities from somewhere else.</p>