<p>*With regards to adjusting financial aid, how realistic is this? </p>
<p>My parents’ defining argument against applying early [decision] is that I will “not be able to negotiate” with the Fin Aid office, especially if its still not affordable.</p>
<p>Is this true? Must I have an offer from another competitive college to be able to leverage any amount of Fin Aid?*</p>
<p>Your parents have a point. If you only have your ED FA offer, then you won’t have an offer from another school that could be better. That said, have your parents looked at the NPC results from your dream school? If so, what did they think of it?</p>
<p>However, if your parents (and you) are thinking that if an offer isn’t good enough (but fair based on their finances), then your dream school isn’t likely going to offer you more money. </p>
<p>And, top schools won’t care if you get a better offer from a lower ranked school, so if Mid-tier B school offers you an awesome pkg (merit and FA), then Dream School won’t care.</p>