<p>Except SCEA is not really the same as ED, at all. You can still shop around in the regular cycle for better financial aid packages.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the worst offenders are the ED Ivies. If you back out of one of them for financial reasons, they actually notify any other Ivy League you applied to and get them to automatically deny your application, which I find ridiculous and quite spiteful.</p>
<p>Now, NU’s ED is not as bad as that, but it still doesn’t give you the option of comparing financial aid with NU. Because, let’s say NU’s aid ends up about 5 - 10k per year outside of your budget. That’s a lot, but it’s not unmanageable; if they had EA or SCEA you could apply to other places for RD, and if you find that your other aid packages are comparable, you can always go back to NU. But no, you have to decline your spot first before even getting the option to compare. That’s the reason I find ED evil and cannot possibly fathom why schools as reputable as NU, Duke, Penn, Columbia, etc. would use it. But anyway, we’re getting off topic here.</p>