What happens if you ED and then back out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not OP, but I wish we could also withdraw. Mostly bc we got zero merit from the school my DD was accepted to ED. And plenty of merit aid from the other schools she was accepted to -- but I realize that is the risk we took, but still sucks. We thought there would be a little merit at least and now we will need to take out a loan.

You can get out of ED for financial reasons. If they don't offer you enough $$, you can say you can't afford it, and need to withdraw your ED. It happens. You'd have to prove it, possibly.

That’s about need based aid, not merit.

You can just say you can’t pay. They can’t force you to go and you won’t be sued. People back out for other reasons too (illness, mental health, etc).

They can't force you to go, but if they disagree with you that you can't pay, they can inform all of their overlap colleges that they are not releasing you from the ED contract. Those other colleges will not allow you to matriculate.

+1. The ED school can’t force attendance. They CAN (and will) ensure you don’t attend anywhere else. As will your guidance counselor, who also signed the ED agreement. She and the HS are also on the hook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ivy RD is not released yet. What nonsense are you talking about?

This happened a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/18/your-money/paying-for-college/early-decision-binding-nyu.html

You can back out if you haven’t accepted the ED offer. Accepted is the key word.

It also says that if you applied for financial aid but didn’t get what you need to attend, then you can withdraw.

Anyone thinking about applying ED needs to read this.

ED had to be accepted and a deposit payed soon after the offer. My kid’s was due early January.

At this point, kids accepted ED1 have all accepted. It’s not like ED gove you until May.

But doesn't the nature of the ED agreement mean that you have accepted any potentoal offer before you even apply?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not OP, but I wish we could also withdraw. Mostly bc we got zero merit from the school my DD was accepted to ED. And plenty of merit aid from the other schools she was accepted to -- but I realize that is the risk we took, but still sucks. We thought there would be a little merit at least and now we will need to take out a loan.

You can get out of ED for financial reasons. If they don't offer you enough $$, you can say you can't afford it, and need to withdraw your ED. It happens. You'd have to prove it, possibly.

That’s about need based aid, not merit.

You can just say you can’t pay. They can’t force you to go and you won’t be sued. People back out for other reasons too (illness, mental health, etc).

They can't force you to go, but if they disagree with you that you can't pay, they can inform all of their overlap colleges that they are not releasing you from the ED contract. Those other colleges will not allow you to matriculate.

+1. The ED school can’t force attendance. They CAN (and will) ensure you don’t attend anywhere else. As will your guidance counselor, who also signed the ED agreement. She and the HS are also on the hook.

Another +1. I really think the people -- or it might be just one very dense person -- posting about how it's simple to get out of ED should see what a high school counselor would say to that idea. I think these "no one ever got sued, they can't force you to go" parents have no idea how the ED process affects the applicant's high school, not just the individual applicant. Colleges can and will look very badly on a high school where a student reneges on a commitment to ED, unless the student ends up having a documented problem getting need-based aid and must withdraw for that reason. And yes, it does matter what colleges think of a high school's reputation in this regard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not OP, but I wish we could also withdraw. Mostly bc we got zero merit from the school my DD was accepted to ED. And plenty of merit aid from the other schools she was accepted to -- but I realize that is the risk we took, but still sucks. We thought there would be a little merit at least and now we will need to take out a loan.

You can get out of ED for financial reasons. If they don't offer you enough $$, you can say you can't afford it, and need to withdraw your ED. It happens. You'd have to prove it, possibly.

That’s about need based aid, not merit.

You can just say you can’t pay. They can’t force you to go and you won’t be sued. People back out for other reasons too (illness, mental health, etc).

They can't force you to go, but if they disagree with you that you can't pay, they can inform all of their overlap colleges that they are not releasing you from the ED contract. Those other colleges will not allow you to matriculate.

+1. The ED school can’t force attendance. They CAN (and will) ensure you don’t attend anywhere else. As will your guidance counselor, who also signed the ED agreement. She and the HS are also on the hook.

This is ridiculous. Let’s say a kid says that it is too expensive and they need to go to a state school. The ED school is not going to prevent them. Or a kid realizes that he can’t handle the ED school because of anxiety or because he has a family crisis. He can just apply to different schools in the next cycle.

[Anonymous]

To what end is this worth this nonsense? There is no ivy league school worth this crap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not OP, but I wish we could also withdraw. Mostly bc we got zero merit from the school my DD was accepted to ED. And plenty of merit aid from the other schools she was accepted to -- but I realize that is the risk we took, but still sucks. We thought there would be a little merit at least and now we will need to take out a loan.

You can get out of ED for financial reasons. If they don't offer you enough $$, you can say you can't afford it, and need to withdraw your ED. It happens. You'd have to prove it, possibly.

That’s about need based aid, not merit.

You can just say you can’t pay. They can’t force you to go and you won’t be sued. People back out for other reasons too (illness, mental health, etc).

They can't force you to go, but if they disagree with you that you can't pay, they can inform all of their overlap colleges that they are not releasing you from the ED contract. Those other colleges will not allow you to matriculate.

+1. The ED school can’t force attendance. They CAN (and will) ensure you don’t attend anywhere else. As will your guidance counselor, who also signed the ED agreement. She and the HS are also on the hook.

This is ridiculous. Let’s say a kid says that it is too expensive and they need to go to a state school. The ED school is not going to prevent them. Or a kid realizes that he can’t handle the ED school because of anxiety or because he has a family crisis. He can just apply to different schools in the next cycle.

The kid just can’t say “it’s too expensive”. First, there’s the net price calculator. The. The agreement and discussion of cost and signing of the agreement with the high school counselor by both parent and student agreeing to terms. Then the acceptance. Then the parents file the FAFSA and /or CSS. Most people reading this on the DMV will, like us, get an EFC of 100 percent because we make over $250k or so a year. That should coordinate with the NPC (always take a screenshot of that), if not then the school works with the parents (or doesn’t) on a financial package of grants, work study, etc snd the student takes out the $5500 in subsidized student loan. The parents are now stuck for the rest. You enter the agreement knowing this do the student can’t wail at the end of it “but we can’t afford it”. The parents have already indicated that they CAN afford it. The burden is on the parents to prove -after the FAFSA and the CSS that they can’t afford it. Then the parents scramble for loans (the kid has no collateral so can’t take out any) or refinance their house, etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I’m still not seeing how it hurts anyone if you still go to the ED school.

Because schools only take so many students from each high school. If you were accepted to ED and then didn't pull your applications from other schools, someone else in your school will get denied (maybe waitlisted) because they give you an offer. I guess if you and your kid don't care about other kids in your high school, then this isn't a reason. For most of us, it is.

You're also waiting the admissions team's time by not telling them. Plus it's unethical to not withdraw other apps.

[Anonymous]

wasting, not waiting

[Anonymous]

Come on, let the OP do whatever they want, but OP, please please please report back the experience afterwards to educate future ED applicants.

[Anonymous]

I predict a brilliant and lucrative career for OP's kid, probably in "finance." Or maybe law.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The kid just can’t say “it’s too expensive”. First, there’s the net price calculator. The. The agreement and discussion of cost and signing of the agreement with the high school counselor by both parent and student agreeing to terms. Then the acceptance. Then the parents file the FAFSA and /or CSS. Most people reading this on the DMV will, like us, get an EFC of 100 percent because we make over $250k or so a year. That should coordinate with the NPC (always take a screenshot of that), if not then the school works with the parents (or doesn’t) on a financial package of grants, work study, etc snd the student takes out the $5500 in subsidized student loan. The parents are now stuck for the rest. You enter the agreement knowing this do the student can’t wail at the end of it “but we can’t afford it”. The parents have already indicated that they CAN afford it. The burden is on the parents to prove -after the FAFSA and the CSS that they can’t afford it. Then the parents scramble for loans (the kid has no collateral so can’t take out any) or refinance their house, etc

DP.. question.. for the income calculator, do they look at gross (AGI) or net taxable income? I'm guessing AGI?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
The kid just can’t say “it’s too expensive”. First, there’s the net price calculator. The. The agreement and discussion of cost and signing of the agreement with the high school counselor by both parent and student agreeing to terms. Then the acceptance. Then the parents file the FAFSA and /or CSS. Most people reading this on the DMV will, like us, get an EFC of 100 percent because we make over $250k or so a year. That should coordinate with the NPC (always take a screenshot of that), if not then the school works with the parents (or doesn’t) on a financial package of grants, work study, etc snd the student takes out the $5500 in subsidized student loan. The parents are now stuck for the rest. You enter the agreement knowing this do the student can’t wail at the end of it “but we can’t afford it”. The parents have already indicated that they CAN afford it. The burden is on the parents to prove -after the FAFSA and the CSS that they can’t afford it. Then the parents scramble for loans (the kid has no collateral so can’t take out any) or refinance their house, etc

DP.. question.. for the income calculator, do they look at gross (AGI) or net taxable income? I'm guessing AGI?

They start w/ AGI, but add back retirement contributions that don't show up on Federal W2s.

[Anonymous]

The ED school my DC applied to and is attending in the fall was very clear that students did not have to accept the offer of admission if the family decided that they could not afford it. It seemed to be up to the family and not the NPC. This may be unusual. I don’t know because we didn’t look at applying to any other schools ED since it was my DC’s first choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The ED school my DC applied to and is attending in the fall was very clear that students did not have to accept the offer of admission if the family decided that they could not afford it. It seemed to be up to the family and not the NPC. This may be unusual. I don’t know because we didn’t look at applying to any other schools ED since it was my DC’s first choice.

Just wanted to add that I have seen college counselors say the same about this school’s policies so it may be unusual.