I desperately need advice on the predicament I am in; I applied early decision to a school that I got accepted into, but recently found out that I cannot attend the school. This is due to recent financial and personal changes.
I found out I got accepted into the school on December 15th, but I did not rescind my other applications because it was at that time that the personal and financial changes were occurring so I was unsure if I was able to attend even at that time. However, I did pay the deposit for my ED college and never told them I was in this predicament or that I may not be able to attend, because honestly I was unsure at that time.
The main reason I cannot attend the ED college is because it is too expensive. I did not file for financial aid either because these financial and personal changes did not happen before the financial aid deadline and I thought I was perfectly fine financially. They began afterwards.
However, now I have found out that there is no way I will be able to attend the ED school. My concern is that I have other acceptances waiting for me and I know that you are supposed to rescind other applications once you get into your ED. Again, I did not know if I would be able to attend at the time I got accepted so I did not want to rescind all other college applications.
Essentially my question is will I be able to break my ED contract and attend a different school? Also, will my ED rescind its offer/blacklist me/tell other colleges to rescind their acceptances once my ED finds out that I did not rescind all other applications after getting accepted.
Thank you so much to anyone that responds with advice. I really appreciate it, and I will respond to a thread of yours in return
So let me put it this way, I do not believe there are that many incidences where you would find yourself in the position of not able to afford a school in matter of weeks. If ther were such incidence then you would have shared it in this post. Even in the case of a parent losing his or her job, your family would have put money alway to pay for your education and your parent(s) would be expected to find a job in the near future. If you didn’t think you could afford the ED school then you should have declined the offer or withdraw other applications. You didn’t do that because you wanted your cake and eat it too. I think you are in a tough spot.
i mean, technically speaking, no one can physically make you attend a school you’re unable to afford. however, it does make it look not-so-good not only for you but also your high school. why did you wait so long to tell anyone? have you even contacted the college to tell them your predicament? it’s february fourteenth… an entire two months after you received your acceptance.
Yes. You can break this agreement. You let them know that you will not be attending because of a severe financial reversal. You thank them for their kind offer of admission, express best wishes to all the students who would have been in your class, and move on.
Most institutions do not give a rip about ED agreements. It is extremely unlikely that the ED institution would be able to black-list you with every place in the country. How would they even know where else you have applied?
The real concern here is that the same financial issues that prevent you from attending the ED institution may also prevent you from enrolling anywhere else. So work with your family to find out what will be possible for the fall. If things are truly grim, you should consider taking a Gap Year so that you can identify affordable institutions.
@happymomof1 has it right. Can’t afford it for whatever reason, don’t accept the offer of admission or rescind it. The university and you will move on.
If you applied ED without applying for financial aid, then you would have done the same to your other applications. So unless the college you choose is offering you a full ride on merit, or is significantly less expensive, you will have a hard time justifying it.
If you are choosing a college that is known to offer only need-based aid instead, how would you know what aid you are getting?
But if you won a big merit scholarship then withdrawing would be understandable. As long as you aren’t choosing a university that only offers need-based financial aid, your reasons would be clear.
You should talk to your GC immediately. He/she has signed that agreement too. There may be certain restriction from your HS whether they would proceed with the application of certain other schools when you decline an ED offer for a financial reason. Note that you did not follow the rule, did not file an appeal or request financial aid at the ED school, did not withdraw the application of other school in a timely manner, etc. It does look ugly even to your GC.
Could you contact the ED school and explain the situation? Perhaps they will allow you to apply for financial aid now. Maybe it’s not too late, though I understand there might be personal reasons that could keep you from being able to attend.
Since you withdrew all your other applications when you received the ED acceptance you may have to settle for community college next year. Or is that not an issue?
OP wrote “but I did not rescind my other applications because it was at that time that the personal and financial changes were occurring” so there may still be a chance at other schools.
We can’t predict what your ED college will say - if they’ll “blacklist” you or whatnot. Just put on your big-boy/big-girl pants and call your admissions counselor ASAP and withdraw already–or do as suggested and ask if you can retroactively apply for financial aid (though, I dunno, I’m sensing some change of heart… maybe you don’t really want to go to the ED school for other reasons, as well; if you really wanted to go there, I’d think you and your parents would have been in touch w/ your AO weeks ago when this started unfolding, to find out if you could get some FA).
Right now, your only job is to call your ED school and find out options. And if they want you to withdraw, do it already, so school can open up your spot for some other deserving student.
First try to work with your ED school. They may be able to give you aid because your circumstances have changed. You need to explore that route first. And if it is truly the college you want to attend, that is probably what you want to happen anyway.
You certainly need to speak with your ED college and work it out. Otherwise, yes, there could be negative ramifications for you. But if you call and talk it out, they may be able to accommodate your needs.
Are all the replies giving advice assuming that OP would instead attend a low-cost college or a college that doesn’t provide ONLY need-based financial aid (i.e. most highly selective colleges)?
Because if the price tag of the college that OP would like to attend instead is the same as OP’s ED school, then withdrawing for financial reasons won’t fly.
If OP is attending a low-cost college instead, then it would be easier to justify.
^ That is our school district’s logic. The GC would not proceed any further for any other private or OOS public college application if one withdraw from an ED school for a financial reason. They would only support application to in-state public colleges. That has been fore warned upfront before the student/parent sign the ED agreement. It is not only for a practical reason, it also protects the reputation of the HS and future students applying ED to the same college.
The only logical thing OP should do is to contact the FA office of the ED school first instead of keeping the other schools for 2 months as backup plan.
My kid’s GC would have contacted the RD schools and would not have sent in supporting docs for the RD schools (mid year transcript, LORs, etc). The GC signed the ED agreement and wouldn’t want the school to be blacklisted.
My bet is this is not a financial situation. The OP got into his ED school is now wondering if he could get into a higher ranking school.
