Anonymous
Post 08/26/2025 01:31     Subject: Is Early Decision Just Volunteering to Give Away All the Cash You Have?
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.)



Bolded is the problem. No, you cannot.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 23:43     Subject: Is Early Decision Just Volunteering to Give Away All the Cash You Have?
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?


Mind your business!

And putting your neighbors stuff on on DCUM. Claasy.


Relax, the OP is complete fiction.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 23:23     Subject: Is Early Decision Just Volunteering to Give Away All the Cash You Have?
Anonymous wrote:
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.


Thanks for the perspective.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 23:18     Subject: Is Early Decision Just Volunteering to Give Away All the Cash You Have?
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.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 23:10     Subject: Is Early Decision Just Volunteering to Give Away All the Cash You Have?
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.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 22:59     Subject: Is Early Decision Just Volunteering to Give Away All the Cash You Have?
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.)
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 22:08     Subject: Is Early Decision Just Volunteering to Give Away All the Cash You Have?
Anonymous wrote:One of our kids applied ED to his favorite school, a target. We did not apply for aid. He got a significant merit award when admitted ED.


Same. Kid got a $30K/year merit scholarship. We had assumed he’d get nothing, but they said that ED applicants got the same consideration for merit aid as RD applicants do, and that turned out to be true. This was a LAC ranked around 45-50, IIRC.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 21:18     Subject: Is Early Decision Just Volunteering to Give Away All the Cash You Have?
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?


What do you even mean? Of course you should be prepared to pay the full amount if you go ED.


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.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 20:02     Subject: Is Early Decision Just Volunteering to Give Away All the Cash You Have?
I posted up thread that I have a couple relatives at an Ivy. They got in ED. They are paying less to go than they would at their flagship in state school, because their state has terrible financial aid and the ivy has very generous financial aid. Their mom was shocked by how expensive the in state option was, when everything added up with room and board and fees and such.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 19:45     Subject: Is Early Decision Just Volunteering to Give Away All the Cash You Have?
One of our kids applied ED to his favorite school, a target. We did not apply for aid. He got a significant merit award when admitted ED.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 19:21     Subject: Is Early Decision Just Volunteering to Give Away All the Cash You Have?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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


Here is a whole thread about how different schools come in with different numbers for so-called “need-based” aid, and many will change their offers to “match” offers made by peer schools, because they understand that how much you “need” depends on the price a peer school is offering you: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1276157.page#30144420.


This is false. Need based aid does not change


That would indeed be a simple and intellectually coherent rule, but the real world is complicated, and in the real world, so-called “need-based” aid changes all the time.


+1

Schools won’t necessarily match other schools but if your kid gets into a comparable school with a better aid package, the consensus is that you should appeal your aid award to see if you can get more.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 19:06     Subject: Is Early Decision Just Volunteering to Give Away All the Cash You Have?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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


Here is a whole thread about how different schools come in with different numbers for so-called “need-based” aid, and many will change their offers to “match” offers made by peer schools, because they understand that how much you “need” depends on the price a peer school is offering you: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1276157.page#30144420.


This is false. Need based aid does not change


That would indeed be a simple and intellectually coherent rule, but the real world is complicated, and in the real world, so-called “need-based” aid changes all the time.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 18:55     Subject: Is Early Decision Just Volunteering to Give Away All the Cash You Have?
My student ED’d to a LAC that I think is in the top 40 or so (we didn’t pay attention to rankings) and received $25K in merit aid. (We are not eligible for need-based aid.) My kid is a happy sophomore now.
Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 18:35     Subject: Is Early Decision Just Volunteering to Give Away All the Cash You Have?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My son applied ED, knowing he was a borderline applicant, and it worked, ED got him admitted when he wouldn’t have been otherwise.


There's no way that you could possibly know this.


PP: yes, this is true, but RD would have been difficult for him. The ED advantage was significant, even accounting for athletes, legacies and other institutional priorities, and a lot of the class is filled ED.

Anyway, we are happy with the outcome.


Anonymous
Post 08/25/2025 18:26     Subject: Is Early Decision Just Volunteering to Give Away All the Cash You Have?
Anonymous wrote:
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


Here is a whole thread about how different schools come in with different numbers for so-called “need-based” aid, and many will change their offers to “match” offers made by peer schools, because they understand that how much you “need” depends on the price a peer school is offering you: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1276157.page#30144420.


This is false. Need based aid does not change