Is Early Decision Just Volunteering to Give Away All the Cash You Have?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that ED doesn't mean you won't get need-based aid. If you're making $10,000 and get into Harvard ED, you're not paying a cent.

But you won't be able to negotiate, and it may reduce the amount of merit aid.

It does mean just that. And for schools where ED actually matters, those schools do not typically give out much merit. So run the NPC, find out your FA estimate, and if you can afford it, you apply

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we have a neighbor, their child wanted to go to a reasonably top-ish university. Got in early decision. Great!

Find out afterwards they end up being charged what I think seems like the max this couple can possibly pay with loans. Think like the above $70K ones you read about and then add on room and board, nickel and dime stuff, etc. YOW.

Is that what you get by going early decision? A trade off between admission and maximum payment, basically?

Pretty much. You are giving up the opportunity to entertain better financial offers.

You're confusing need based aid with merit aid. Need based aid is not going to change (and the top schools do not give merit aid) Merit aid is found at the 2nd tier schools and below

Yes and those "2nd Tiered Schools" include schools ranked in the 40s and 50s+. So you don't have to go "far" to get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are middle class. Both of my kids got in ED at T20 schools. Unhooked. We did the Net Price Calculator before applying, and found the number doable, though stressful.

But when they were accepted and we received the packages - basically, discounts - both turned out to be much more generous than anticipated - especially the second kid. There are zero financial issues for us. These expensive T20 private schools are much cheaper than the alternatives.

The downside is that they didn't get a chance to apply to Stanford or MIT. But they are both very happy at their schools, so no regrets.

The biggest problem with ED is that you are foregoing other possibilities. And that's no small thing. But my sense is that if certain high endowment schools want a student, they will make it work. No one is saying no to Princeton for example because it's too expensive.

If you want to see all other possibilities, then you simply don't do ED. It's a choice. Everyone can make it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
ED = full pay

It's interesting that some folks are hell bent on spreading misinformation. One can only guess that their intent is to reduce ED competition by discouraging others to apply. The correct statement should be:

ED = pay up to what the NPC says, or entitled to get out of the ED agreement

[Anonymous]

Yes, ED is an admission boost for kids from families who will pay the full amount. It is AA for white kids, or those with $$.

Been saying this for years, and why so many people falsely assume certain TT private high schools are so great with ex missions. Yes, the kids are smart (and prepped) but most of them will also have the $$ ED admission boost, it’s not just the school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
ED = full pay

It's interesting that some folks are hell bent on spreading misinformation. One can only guess that their intent is to reduce ED competition by discouraging others to apply. The correct statement should be:

ED = pay up to what the NPC says, or entitled to get out of the ED agreement

This! We received generous financial aid from DC’s ED school. Lined up with the NPC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
ED = full pay

It's interesting that some folks are hell bent on spreading misinformation. One can only guess that their intent is to reduce ED competition by discouraging others to apply. The correct statement should be:

ED = pay up to what the NPC says, or entitled to get out of the ED agreement

This! We received generous financial aid from DC’s ED school. Lined up with the NPC.

Yea, of course there are exceptions but schools use ED to figure out their budgets for RD because they can clearly assess the $ coming in. And the majority of kids applying ED will pay full sticker or close to it. If the kid isn’t entitled to FA (and pretty much any family with an HHI of 250k or more will not be) then that family will be expected to pay full sticker price. This is why ED is a rich kids advantage

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that ED doesn't mean you won't get need-based aid. If you're making $10,000 and get into Harvard ED, you're not paying a cent.

But you won't be able to negotiate, and it may reduce the amount of merit aid.

This is exactly it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that ED doesn't mean you won't get need-based aid. If you're making $10,000 and get into Harvard ED, you're not paying a cent.

But you won't be able to negotiate, and it may reduce the amount of merit aid.

This is exactly it

+1 Look at Syracuse this year, who was throwing 200K scholarships at kids who had turned down their offer in favor of other schools. If you're fairly indifferent to the price of colleges and don't value the chance to compare different offers or have your heart set on one school, ED makes sense. For others, not so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that ED doesn't mean you won't get need-based aid. If you're making $10,000 and get into Harvard ED, you're not paying a cent.

But you won't be able to negotiate, and it may reduce the amount of merit aid.

Nobody gets into Harvard ED, because Harvard doesn’t have ED. None of the top schools do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Yup. That’s why ED is a rich kid’s game. Poor kids need to see the financial aid offer and can benefit by comparing packages.

I don't understand this. Say I'm a (relatively) poor family with only a 25k budget. I ran the NPC of my kid's favorite, need-blind school and the net price after need-based aid is 20k. Seeing that this estimate is within budget, my kid ED there and is fortunate to get in. If the actual offer is anything below 25k, we're done. If it's anything above, we can get out of the ED.

So why is ED a rich kid's game? Honest question because I've seen this way of thinking a lot on DCUM, and am afraid that there is something fundamental I just didn't know. (I understand that waitlist is mostly need-aware which is when rich families have advantages.)

The only people who complain about ED are those in the middle/donut hole. They want to actually compare merit offers from multiple universities. Because you are correct---run the NPC and if they don't give what they said, you can get out. What those people don't realize is that for majority of schools where ED matters at all, those schools do NOT give merit (or only give merit to 10-15 of the incoming 2K kids, so no merit really at all). And that won't change for RD/EA. So what the parents are wishing for doesn't happen anyhow. What they are really saying is "we might pay $90K for university X, if our kid doesn't get a better offer from a really good university that we deem ranked high enough". And they are pissed that they cannot get the benefit of ED to that school and also see if a school ranked 31-40 will give their kid excellent merit.

But you are correct, anyone can do ED even those who need FA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Yup. That’s why ED is a rich kid’s game. Poor kids need to see the financial aid offer and can benefit by comparing packages.

I don't understand this. Say I'm a (relatively) poor family with only a 25k budget. I ran the NPC of my kid's favorite, need-blind school and the net price after need-based aid is 20k. Seeing that this estimate is within budget, my kid ED there and is fortunate to get in. If the actual offer is anything below 25k, we're done. If it's anything above, we can get out of the ED.

So why is ED a rich kid's game? Honest question because I've seen this way of thinking a lot on DCUM, and am afraid that there is something fundamental I just didn't know. (I understand that waitlist is mostly need-aware which is when rich families have advantages.)

Speaking from personal experience, there are lots of kids who fall in the middle and won’t qualify for need based aid but can’t afford expensive tuition. Our budget is 30k and we will get $0 in FA. We believe firmly in avoiding debt (except a mortgage). Instead our kids focused on merit aid. We don’t consider ourselves poor by any means. There are lots of families like ours in Potomac and Bethesda.

So how does RD/EA change any of that at top schools? It doesn't. Those schools are not giving your kid merit. But schools in the 30+ range will and you can ED to anyone of those and they will let you know the merit offered with the ED. Hint: at T30 schools, your kid isn't getting merit anyhow, so if you require it, then ED there isn't for you. You still wont be able to afford it in RD either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ED is really for full pay families and gives kids a leg up on admissions at selective schools. As others mentioned there’s a net price calculator to use before applying. Unfortunately this puts many kids at a significant disadvantage in college admissions if they can’t afford it. ED admission rates are significantly higher at many schools. People love to say admissions should be merit based but then the same people are ok with the highest bidder winning admission over someone more qualified. I know my opinion will be unpopular but I think they should eliminate it.

Tell me how a college which is not affordable in ED is somehow affordable in RD, please.

They cannot do that, because it wont be. They want merit from a school that typically doesn't give merit. And those that do give merit, also give it in ED if your kid "deserves it by the schools definition"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People ranting against ED are just annoyed that they can’t afford to pay full price at all these colleges that they covet. They also are delusional when they assume rich kids that can afford full pay are not smart or deserving. Many kids are rich because their parents are super successful and high IQ. Guess what? Successful, smart, rich people usually raise really interesting, smart, driven kids.

Wow!

Why WOW? Kids who grow up in families where it's expected they do well academically and kids know after HS the next path is undergrad and then likely graduate school of some type, tend to be qualified for top rated schools. That is not a shock.

But what is delusional is donut hole parents thinking that a T30 school that barely gives any merit (if not zero) will somehow be affordable to them in RD. It wont be if it's not affordable in ED. So the fact remains that you should focus on schools that are affordable to you and stop complaining about not being able to ED to a school that isn't affordable and never will be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Early decision is only for the rich and keeps the poors out.

Except it doesn’t.

So then why does everyone agree that you should only apply ED if you are sure you can afford it?

OMG---because you run the NPC and decide if you are willing to pay what it says you can. If you cannot, then you cannot afford that school, in ED or RD. The price of the school does not change. Only difference is you are not "bound to attend" in RD. But you still wont be able to afford it. So why focus your energy on complaining that you cannot afford $90K+/year. Instead focus on finding schools you can afford.