A lot of SLAC's fill their classes up in ED (if they have it). Since they are so small, there just aren't a lot of spots left for RD. It's a numbers game. If your kid really wants a SLAC, they should apply ED.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's like K-12 private schools, PP. A majority are quite wealthy, and a handful are low-income on financial aid. The middle class is entirely squeezed out.

No it's not the same at all. the k-12 let everyone apply in one round and when they see which kids they want, then they determine aid.

This process only allows people who can afford to apply in rounds in which 80% of slots are filled. Then when there are 20% spots left - they open it to everyone. These are very different. (Parent who has no financial need and recognizes the inequity)

ED actually also works for those that need financial aid as they have an out if financial aid is other than the school’s website predicted. It hurts families that need to compare merit aid offers, which would be the upper middle class.

Midd. Doesn't. Offer. Merit. Aid.

Exactly.

Clearly the well-off Middlebury fans in other posts don't really understand what it's like to be in other people's shoes.

No merit aid, but also for those with even fewer resources, just because a school says it meets all need, doesn't mean that your family's definition of what you can pay matches FAFSA's expectations. Filling 80% with ED is a highly inequitable practice. I wouldn't keep my kid from doing so if they had Middlebury as their dream school, but at least I acknowledge the reality of it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's like K-12 private schools, PP. A majority are quite wealthy, and a handful are low-income on financial aid. The middle class is entirely squeezed out.

That might not be a great social fit for my kid anyway.

+100 My DS wants to go to a SLAC but not one filled with only rich kids. They don't seem to exist as all the SLACs are so expensive.

It's a smear to say SLACs have only rich kids. 40-65% of students at these schools are on financial aid with average award in the 50k range. There are a lot of rich kids outside that group but someone has to pay the bills.

76% of Middlebury students have parents families in the top 20% of hhi.

What about parents who don’t have to work? Might even be higher. And at 80k a year, I think you can easily be in the top 20% of hhi and still get aid.

Middlbury may skew a little rich but it's not so different from almost all the private colleges addressed in that NYT article. Btw, top quintile of HHI isn't really that high-- you need to realize we are comparing families with parents in prime working age vs young single people, young couples, the elderly, etc, who all constitute households.

One advantage of ED as a system is that it signals to the school that the kid really wants to go there. So if half of LACs are ED students that means half the students are at a school that if it wasn’t their actual first choice, it was way up there. It makes sense that there is some mechanism to incorporate a student’s preferences into the outcome.

Without ED we could end up in a situation where the wrong kids are at the wrong colleges

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's like K-12 private schools, PP. A majority are quite wealthy, and a handful are low-income on financial aid. The middle class is entirely squeezed out.

No it's not the same at all. the k-12 let everyone apply in one round and when they see which kids they want, then they determine aid.

This process only allows people who can afford to apply in rounds in which 80% of slots are filled. Then when there are 20% spots left - they open it to everyone. These are very different. (Parent who has no financial need and recognizes the inequity)

ED actually also works for those that need financial aid as they have an out if financial aid is other than the school’s website predicted. It hurts families that need to compare merit aid offers, which would be the upper middle class.

Midd. Doesn't. Offer. Merit. Aid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's like K-12 private schools, PP. A majority are quite wealthy, and a handful are low-income on financial aid. The middle class is entirely squeezed out.

No it's not the same at all. the k-12 let everyone apply in one round and when they see which kids they want, then they determine aid.

This process only allows people who can afford to apply in rounds in which 80% of slots are filled. Then when there are 20% spots left - they open it to everyone. These are very different. (Parent who has no financial need and recognizes the inequity)

ED actually also works for those that need financial aid as they have an out if financial aid is other than the school’s website predicted. It hurts families that need to compare merit aid offers, which would be the upper middle class.

+1
You definitely don't need to be full pay to apply ED. Good college counselors should be making that clear! I hear about that early application misconception a lot though.

Given more families receive aid than are even accepted in the ED round, there are plenty of people with need who do understand ED is an option.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's like K-12 private schools, PP. A majority are quite wealthy, and a handful are low-income on financial aid. The middle class is entirely squeezed out.

No it's not the same at all. the k-12 let everyone apply in one round and when they see which kids they want, then they determine aid.

This process only allows people who can afford to apply in rounds in which 80% of slots are filled. Then when there are 20% spots left - they open it to everyone. These are very different. (Parent who has no financial need and recognizes the inequity)

ED actually also works for those that need financial aid as they have an out if financial aid is other than the school’s website predicted. It hurts families that need to compare merit aid offers, which would be the upper middle class.

+1
You definitely don't need to be full pay to apply ED. Good college counselors should be making that clear! I hear about that early application misconception a lot though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's like K-12 private schools, PP. A majority are quite wealthy, and a handful are low-income on financial aid. The middle class is entirely squeezed out.

No it's not the same at all. the k-12 let everyone apply in one round and when they see which kids they want, then they determine aid.

This process only allows people who can afford to apply in rounds in which 80% of slots are filled. Then when there are 20% spots left - they open it to everyone. These are very different. (Parent who has no financial need and recognizes the inequity)

ED actually also works for those that need financial aid as they have an out if financial aid is other than the school’s website predicted. It hurts families that need to compare merit aid offers, which would be the upper middle class.

Anonymous wrote:It's like K-12 private schools, PP. A majority are quite wealthy, and a handful are low-income on financial aid. The middle class is entirely squeezed out.

No it's not the same at all. the k-12 let everyone apply in one round and when they see which kids they want, then they determine aid.

This process only allows people who can afford to apply in rounds in which 80% of slots are filled. Then when there are 20% spots left - they open it to everyone. These are very different. (Parent who has no financial need and recognizes the inequity)

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Looks like you pick Sept only, Feb only, or either. First two would be binding for the chosen start. I wonder if choosing either is binding for both?