<p>You can still compare financial aid packages if you apply ED - but, if there’s no extenuating circumstances in which you really feel the need to apply ED, then apply RD. </p>
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<li>Note: Although you can compare financial aid packages at ED, it’s a tricky business. If your EFC comes out to 20k (surprise, surprise) and your family was unaware it was going to be that high…and Vanderbilt gives you around 30k of aid…then it’s going to be a hard battle trying to convince them you want more money, you need more money, or that you need to break the ED contract because you didn’t do enough research. (Not to be rude to those in that position, of course, but there are online financial aid calculators that will usually tell you your EFC with a 1-4k standard deviation).</li>
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<p>But as I said before, it’s tricky business. Which is why most people will immediately tell you that you can’t apply ED & compare financial aid packages, instead of telling you that it’s very possible to do it if you really want to and if you do your research. The risks that come with not doing the research, however, are too high, which is why many perpetuate the myth that you can’t compare ED financial aid packages. It’s simply easier and less stressful for the parents and students to be told to apply RD than to do research about their finances, or have an incredibly intuitive sense of what their EFC will be ahead of time. </p>
<p>(I applied ED at Vanderbilt looking for financial aid. I didn’t send a deposit check in until receiving financial aid from my other universities. I was never harassed, and Vanderbilt’s aid ending up being the best).</p>