Reply to Does applying early decision completely remove you from consideration for merit aid?

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "Does applying early decision completely remove you from consideration for merit aid?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]NP. I worry about this, too, as DS has started talking about applying to a reach school ED. I asked about merit aid and ED on a recent visit to U of Chicago and the admissions counselor claimed to have no idea/no information about how merit aid varied by decision pool, or averages across ED/RD. [b]Also, she said she had never heard of anyone having to turn down an ED offer because of cost. I think my eyes about rolled out of my head when she said that. [/b]
I feel like ED is something of a scam by schools to get as many kids in full pay as possible, making it easier to meet their lofty goals of meeting 100% of financial need. Anyway, no good answer for you, OP, but the very same question keeps me up at night. 
[/quote]

Likely she was thinking that people understand that when applying ED, you are making a binding commitment, and need to be able to foot the bill without aid.

I am not sure why this surprises you.  It says more about you than it does the admissions counselor.  [/quote]

A universally accepted reason for opting out of an ED acceptance is lack of affordability.[/quote]

Yes, if the [b]*financial aid*[/b] is insufficient and doesn't synch with the Net Price Calculator result, then you can get out of your ED commitment.

Merit aid however is a different animal.  If you don't get the merit aid you hoped for, that does not permit you to opt out of the ED acceptance. [/quote]

I wrote the post that you quoted. Your response is not quite accurate.

The school's Net Price Calculator is not a guarantee and the NPC is not a decisive guideline regarding affordability for any particular family. So, if the above post deleted "and doesn't synch with the Net Price Calculator result", it would be correct.[/quote]

NP here.  My understanding is that it f you do not get the need based aid you are qualified for, you can decline the offer of acceptance.  Not merit.  The reality is that many families can’t pay what they “should” be able to pay under the formulas as rely on merit.  Running the NPC gives you an estimate.  If you screenshot it and they don’t meet it, you are easily out of the agreement.  Without that, it’s hard (but not impossible) to make the argument that you can’t afford it based on your financial status as demonstrated by your FAFSA.

Practically speaking, they need an objective measure and the FAFSA gives them that, although there are many reasons a family can’t afford why they “should” be able to afford.  You would have to argue those to get out of the contract and may or may not succeed.

IMO, it’s dangerous to ED if you can’t meet the amount in the NPC.  Merit would be a bonus (and likely only at less selective schools).[/quote]

PP here and yes, that's the point I was making above.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics