Anonymous wrote:If you apply ED then presumably it's the student's first choice. The main thing is to be absolutely positive that you can get out of accepting admission but can't swing the tuition.

But why would you want to do this to our child? Tuition is now as high as $85K a year in after-tax dollars. Lots of kids are taking longr than four years to graduate. If you can't afford it, don't apply. The system is too hard on the applicant students as it is. - signed a donut hole family with two in college who needed financial aid and got none.

Anonymous wrote:"People who are neither full-pay nor qualify for need-based aid (and therefore don't file the FAFSA), and need merit aid to attend, should NOT apply ED because if the school gives no merit aid but accepts, it is assumed as part of the binding decision that the family will pay in full."

First, GUESSING you are in the donut hole and not filing the FAFSA is such a bad idea it is hard to imagine.

Second, this is NOT true. No school would ever presume to tell a student (family) how much they can or can not afford. The amount a family can afford can change for all sorts of reasons. Hospitalization, losing a job, grandparent expenses, forest fire, swing in the stock market or NEW fear of future expenses. I think that even getting merit aid from your in-state school qualifies.

Almost all EDs let you apply to your state school, how could they possibly say you must go here and pay $!!!!!! rather than take a full ride to your state school?

It is true that if you don't communicate with the ED school about your financial concerns, their process will most likely send the acceptance and it's restrictions to your HS college councilor and that will likely limit future applications.

It is also true that you aren't going to be able to play school #1 off of school #2 for more merit aid.

You are just wrong about that.

RE the other, if a student doesn't file FAFSA and receives no merit aid, and is required to pull apps from other schools, yes, that family is screwed.

Anonymous wrote:"People who are neither full-pay nor qualify for need-based aid (and therefore don't file the FAFSA), and need merit aid to attend, should NOT apply ED because if the school gives no merit aid but accepts, it is assumed as part of the binding decision that the family will pay in full."

First, GUESSING you are in the donut hole and not filing the FAFSA is such a bad idea it is hard to imagine.

Second, this is NOT true. No school would ever presume to tell a student (family) how much they can or can not afford. The amount a family can afford can change for all sorts of reasons. Hospitalization, losing a job, grandparent expenses, forest fire, swing in the stock market or NEW fear of future expenses. I think that even getting merit aid from your in-state school qualifies.

Almost all EDs let you apply to your state school, how could they possibly say you must go here and pay $!!!!!! rather than take a full ride to your state school?

It is true that if you don't communicate with the ED school about your financial concerns, their process will most likely send the acceptance and it's restrictions to your HS college councilor and that will likely limit future applications.

It is also true that you aren't going to be able to play school #1 off of school #2 for more merit aid.

clueless

If you apply ED then presumably it's the student's first choice. The main thing is to be absolutely positive that you can get out of accepting admission but can't swing the tuition.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ED does NOT assume you will be full pay. Run the net price calculator from the school's website to get an idea of your responsibility. If you or spouse are in business for yourself, the calculators are not reliable. If they are in the ballpark, apply. You can get out of an ED acceptance if you don't have the money. ED acceptances notify usually around Dec 15. Your student must be prepared and willing to apply to alternate more affordable schools. You are free to apply to other schools when applying ED, but when you accept the ED offer, you must inform the other school of your decision and the school will pull your application.

Not OP. So when you do accept the ED and pull applications from other schools, you still won't get your FA letter until regular decision time? So what happens when it comes, you don't get enough to afford it but you have pulled your applications from other schools?

My kids did not apply ED, but I believe for ED students, financial decisions come with the acceptances. RD decisions come out before the financial. With RD! You can gather all acceptances and compare prices.

Anonymous wrote:"People who are neither full-pay nor qualify for need-based aid (and therefore don't file the FAFSA), and need merit aid to attend, should NOT apply ED because if the school gives no merit aid but accepts, it is assumed as part of the binding decision that the family will pay in full."

First, GUESSING you are in the donut hole and not filing the FAFSA is such a bad idea it is hard to imagine.

Second, this is NOT true. No school would ever presume to tell a student (family) how much they can or can not afford. The amount a family can afford can change for all sorts of reasons. Hospitalization, losing a job, grandparent expenses, forest fire, swing in the stock market or NEW fear of future expenses. I think that even getting merit aid from your in-state school qualifies.

Almost all EDs let you apply to your state school, how could they possibly say you must go here and pay $!!!!!! rather than take a full ride to your state school?

It is true that if you don't communicate with the ED school about your financial concerns, their process will most likely send the acceptance and it's restrictions to your HS college councilor and that will likely limit future applications.

It is also true that you aren't going to be able to play school #1 off of school #2 for more merit aid.

Wow, I am scared about how uninformed you are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ED does NOT assume you will be full pay. Run the net price calculator from the school's website to get an idea of your responsibility. If you or spouse are in business for yourself, the calculators are not reliable. If they are in the ballpark, apply. You can get out of an ED acceptance if you don't have the money. ED acceptances notify usually around Dec 15. Your student must be prepared and willing to apply to alternate more affordable schools. You are free to apply to other schools when applying ED, but when you accept the ED offer, you must inform the other school of your decision and the school will pull your application.

It does assume that you will be full-pay, or that the need-based aid offered will be sufficient based on the EFC.

The EFC may or may not be accurate for a given family's situation. People who are neither full-pay nor qualify for need-based aid (and therefore don't file the FAFSA), and need merit aid to attend, should NOT apply ED because if the school gives no merit aid but accepts, it is assumed as part of the binding decision that the family will pay in full.

OP: bottom line, speak with your DC's counselor. The counselor has to sign a legal document as well when there is an ED agreement.

"People who are neither full-pay nor qualify for need-based aid (and therefore don't file the FAFSA), and need merit aid to attend, should NOT apply ED because if the school gives no merit aid but accepts, it is assumed as part of the binding decision that the family will pay in full."

First, GUESSING you are in the donut hole and not filing the FAFSA is such a bad idea it is hard to imagine.

Second, this is NOT true. No school would ever presume to tell a student (family) how much they can or can not afford. The amount a family can afford can change for all sorts of reasons. Hospitalization, losing a job, grandparent expenses, forest fire, swing in the stock market or NEW fear of future expenses. I think that even getting merit aid from your in-state school qualifies.

Almost all EDs let you apply to your state school, how could they possibly say you must go here and pay $!!!!!! rather than take a full ride to your state school?

It is true that if you don't communicate with the ED school about your financial concerns, their process will most likely send the acceptance and it's restrictions to your HS college councilor and that will likely limit future applications.

It is also true that you aren't going to be able to play school #1 off of school #2 for more merit aid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op, this is where google is your friend. You do not need to be full pay to have an ed acceptance. You can turn down an early decision offer if the financial aid awarded is insufficient.

Insufficient by whose standards? Seems like an easy out if it’s just an arbitrary opinion.

Exactly. It says if they offer you a package that is within the net price calculator, you don't have an out. And if you try to get an out without proving unforeseen circumstances, they report you to other colleges. Not to mention, you are leading your kid on big time. Regional directors have flat out said that they do offer a package but are you willing to give that up for all the great RD packages that might come your way? I sure wouldn't.

Most ED students are legacy, full pay, and invited athletes. URM and athletes will get the fantastic packages. If your child doesn't have a hook, your packages won't look as good in ED than they would in RD. That is why it pays to be filthy rich in this country. It sucks.

That said, there are many schools that do EA and they are worth doing.