@collegemom9 the financial circumtances also changed insofar as the profitability of the business has taken an unexpected downturn and appears it will continue downward in the upcoming year. full realization regarding this only came to light after the ED app was submitted.
@splokey Ahhh ok I missed that. You can always use that info for an appeal then but the fact that it’s a business still makes it harder.
Is this the kiddo who applied to CO College? Do they offer guaranteed merit or just need based aid?
Colorado College offers need based aid but doesn’t guarantee to meet full need for all accepted students IIRC.
The school has NO guaranteed merit awards…IIRC.
The only “edge” this student might have is that the student has a slightly better chance of acceptance ED2…/but really, an unaffordable acceptance might just as well be a rejection.
In terms of major…
- Lots of kids change their minds.
- The major probably doesn’t matter as much as the career goal. Many careers have multiple paths to reaching that career goal. It doesn’t have to be the college major.
- I’m with @blossom there is no special major that is offered at ONLY Colorado College...and even if there is...this student should be able to Major in something at an affordable college that will get the student to their career goal.
If the attraction at Colorado College is the block plan, there are several other colleges that follow that calendar. Maybe one is more affordable.
Financial surprises can happen any time. The trick is to allow yourself to get real about your situation. And that is hard when there is a college kid involved. It is so difficult to have to say, “No, this place now is too expensive.”
Run your numbers. Find the amount that you can truly say your are ready, willing, and able to pay.
I think the OP is dealing with a couple of hard choices because older kids got their dream schools the business is having a hard spell, and college just costs a lot more now than it did even 5 years ago.
But what if this school didn’t exist? Would there be other choices? Of course!. Hampshire just announced it is not admitting a freshman class. It is a unique school offering a unique program. A kid I know graduated from the school and it was a perfect choice for him. He had LD so while his siblings went off to top schools (an Ivy and a T-30), he needed something different. Worked for him. If Hampshire wasn’t open, he’d have found somewhere else. His grad degree is from a big public school and he adjusted to that learning model.
There really isn’t only one school for a student. If a certain program was really necessary and popular, there’d be more than one school offering that experience.
Wow. How did she get a likely letter? Is she an athlete? Or do the colleges send likely letters to their strongest academic candidates?
Can’t your ds change his admission plan from ED to RD? I think it just takes a phone call. Or email.
D was a hs cheerleader for fun but definitely not an athlete. She got a likely early in the RD round on academics.
I’m a little surprised about the OP’s comments about the business. Pretty much ALL meet need colleges have NPCs that are inaccurate for small business owners and definitely will reduce your aid. I’m a small business owner (with fluctuating revenues), so I’ve been down this path. Didn’t let kids have “dream schools” or get coaxed into applying ED, though. Part of your job as a parent is to keep an even keel. Clarify financial limitations and encourage your kid to keep an open mind about their whole list of colleges.
Actually…the OP DID say his kid applied ED2 to Colorado College…on his other thread.
The situation stinks for you. I get it. We all want the best for our kids. What if your kid does not get in ED2? You have other options. Same goes if you do not get the FA you need to make this reasonably work. I will tell you I have a relative who allowed her 2 kids to go to unaffordable schools, took out large loans so their kids could attend their “dream schools” and now 4 years after youngest graduated are in a big pile of financial dept they cannot afford to pay. Don’t do it! Don’t hope for the best, plan for the worse. Your child may end up loving the school you can afford. I feel for you.
The reason OP wanted to do ED2 is that the acceptance rate is much higher than RD.
Interesting! 
What kind of message is in a purely academic likely letter? And are these sent because the school has a later acceptance date?
Academic likely letters are written the same as athletic likely letters…simply telling the applicant that they are highly likely to be accepted. Schools can and do use likely letters in all admission rounds. They are similar to early writes. Schools use LLs in the RD round to increase their chance of getting the recipient to enroll, whether it be an academic or athletic LL
What’s an early write?
LLs and early writes serve the same purpose, really just different terminology…the early communication telling an applicant that they are highly likely to be accepted come decision date (whether SCEA/REA/EA/RD). For example, William and Mary sent postcards this week to a number of RD candidates with the message that they are highly likely to be admitted, here’s W&M’s explanation: https://wmblogs.wm.edu/admiss/whats-postcard/
One of my daughters received a few of these “academic likely” or “early write” letters. One was from Smith. There were one or two others, I think. She didn’t go to any of these schools but Smith was quite tempting.