<p>“they could force you to pay for registation fees etc if they wanted to”</p>
<p>No, because it’s not a contract and is not legal.</p>
<p>Is there any indication that ED is not working?</p>
<p>
Why would the 99% who adhere to the agreement feel threatened?
They share the list of ED acceptances. You think a peer school won’t look at their student apps for those names?</p>
<p>Why don’t the schools wait until you’ve reneged before they spread the information around? Why send out all that information when 99% of it is useless?</p>
<p>If this was truly a problem for schools, they could fix it with a very small amount of work, and a few changes in procedure. How about this:</p>
<p>1) Have CollegeBoard create an Early Decision app that all schools will use as the only mechanism to apply ED. All this does is designate your app that is submitted via the CommonApp or other means as ED. They can charge a fee to cover their costs.</p>
<p>2) The Early Decision app allows you to specify exactly <em>one</em> school. It is now impossible to apply ED to more than one school without creating more than one account, which would require two SS numbers, which will lead to problems down the road.</p>
<p>3) Upon an ED acceptance, you have one week to back out for any reason. If you go forward, you confirm by paying a $2500 non-refundable deposit.</p>
<p>4) If you back out later, you’ve lost $2500. The school accepts an extra RD applicant or two, or at worst goes to their waiting list, and they are $2500 richer.</p>
<p>5) Your SS number is confirmed via FAFSA or some other means. If your number is bogus, acceptance is withdrawn and you forfeit your $2500.</p>
<p>A contract is an agreement between parties that is legally enforceable. A simple “agreement” is an arrangement between the parties which may or may not contain the necessary elements to be enforceable before a court of law.</p>
<p>The needed elements are…
· Offer and Acceptance
· Intention to Create Legal Relations
· Lawful Consideration
. Capacity of Parties
· Free Consent
. Lawful Object
· Writing and Registration
· Certainty
· Possibility of Performance
. Not Expressly Declared Void</p>
<p>The only possible obstruction I can see here preventing it from being a contract is, in the case of a minor, capacities of parties. However, since the parent is signing on behalf of the student. The student is not being compelled to attend, but they are being compelled as follows…</p>
<p>“a nonrefundable deposit must be made well in advance of May 1.”
“Institutions with Early Decision plans may restrict students from applying to other early plans”</p>
<p>There’s no intention to be legally bound by either party, especially since it’s not a commercial agreement. There are no remedies specified for non-performance by either side. The issue is moot anyway. :)</p>
<p>Erin’s Dad: The CA says that colleges can share ED admissions info, but I have yet to see any evidence that they actually do so.</p>
<p>Dreadpirit: not sure anyone is trying to make the case that ED is a “problem for schools”; it isn’t.</p>
<p>We didn’t accept my son’s ED based on the financial aid package.</p>
<p>Son #2 applied ED to one school, four hours away, his first choice
Trying very hard to turn the corner and find inexpensive student housing there to go with the amount we can afford/he can borrow</p>
<p>Son #1 accepted to four year very good state school, two years ago
had a 3 year scholarship with the Army - we were expected to pay about 10 times what we could afford, fin aid appeal letter denied - he couldn’t go
Son#1 joins National Guard for school benefits, trains for battlefield, attends local comm college year two, now applying for top state school - finances still dependent on housing costs and scholarship (if it applies to first semester or afterwards)</p>
<p>Next year son #3 will graduate - very good academics, still finances?
Son #4 freshman in high school</p>
<p>Economic downturn 10 years ago, rough road - great kids</p>
<p>I was at a presentation by Stanford last May. Someone was wondering about the ramifications of applying SCEA and ED to some other school. The stanford adcom said that in 2011 admission cycle someone applied ED to Columbia and SCEA to stanford. Both admitted the candidate and once they found out, both revoked the admission. </p>
<p>This outcome seems possible only If ED schools are sharing the admit names with peer schools. Technically, the applicant broke Stanford rules since Columbia rules allow the applicant to apply anywhere else as long as they don’t break the other schools rules and show up if they are admitted.</p>
<p>^^ Where was the guidance counsellor in this? He/she had to send transcript/recs to both schools. Which is clearly a “nono”. As a professional I am assuming that his/her students in the RD round as well as in years following will be punished by both colleges. </p>
<p>Also - Technically, the applicant broke Stanford rules since Columbia rules allow the applicant to apply anywhere else as long as they don’t break the other schools rules and show up if they are admitted - it seems he technically broke both rules since Columbia “doesn’t allow” an applicant to break the other school’s rules.</p>
<p>This is all ridiculous…I do not understand why applicants would apply ED…with full knowledge of the agreement, then later try to cast the blame on the colleges or say they don’t have to enroll because its not a contract. Actually…I could think of a better word to use…but won’t.</p>
<p>Applicants backing out for a better deal (and not based on inability to pay) is unethical, unfair to others, and downright wrong! There are no words, legal or otherwise, that can justify it!!!</p>
<p>Furthermore…there can be no misunderstanding…the details are very CLEAR every ED college website and the agreement itself.</p>
<p>If an applicant backs out on an ED agreement simply for a better deal, and not because it is unaffordable, that applicant deserves to be blacklisted from any top college!</p>
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</p>
<p>If your actual ability to pay is much lower than the financial aid offices’ estimate of your estimated family contribution, then you may be looking for big merit schools (e.g. Alabama, UAB), community college, or other low cost options. If the student is interested in a military career, the military service academies should be considered.</p>
<p>I must confess to having only skimmed so this may have already been discussed…</p>
<p>We did NOT apply ED for DS1 in 2010 since FA iwas (and is) indeed a conceern and we felt the need to compare packages.</p>
<p>For DS2 this year, he DID apply ED but was deferred. The new Net Price Calculator at least offered a relative idea of expected packages. Since the ED school met full need and seemed to be in the ballpark of our idea of need, we felt OK with the ED option. Although the NPC did show schools with better packages, the ED school appeared do-able. We figures that if they did not come back with a financial aid offer that was close to the calculator we would have had an ethical reason to bail on the ED. </p>
<p>For better or worse he will hopefully now have the option to consider all the offers after all. Let’s hope.</p>
<p>“if they did not come back with a financial aid offer that was close to the calculator we would have had an ethical reason to bail on the ED”</p>
<p>There’s no ethical issue whatsoever in that case. It’s part of the ED agreement you signed (assuming Common Application) that the FA offer can be freely declined if it’s insufficient to support attendance.</p>
<p>I “reneged” from by ED to NYU, and am surprised to hear some call that unethical. NYU was where I was going. I applied to another school as well though as EA so I could have a back up. I also hear this is “unethical”. My guidance councilor, the guidance councilor at my mom’s high school, and everyone else I talked to had a very fuzzy idea of what ED really is and allowed me to apply to the EA school. Then the financial aid came back. I maybe was foolish in thinking I could pay for it, but the tuition minus what they offered was nothing close to what I could afford. So I said no and my heart was broken. In no way was I meaning to be unethical. I myself believed I could pay the debt, but my parents would not pay for my down payments etc. And for those that think what I did was unfair to those who didn’t get in, there is always a date you have to place your down payment before your seat is given away. When they seat is not taken, it is given to a wait-listed applicant.
Secondly, education shouldn’t be a luxury I can’t afford. I am just as smart as my upper class counterpart and NYU was supposed to be my home.</p>
<p>Maya, you did not reneg; you declined an unworkable offer. There was nothing unethical about your EA application; that was totally within the rules. NYU expects many to turn down these ED offers, and admits far more than they know will accept the offers. From many years of experience they know the proportion that will decline the financial aid ED offers.</p>
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<p>So, NYU permits ED applicants to apply to any EA schools that permit it (eg. HYPS would not due to their own policies)? Or are there stipulations, like IS public, early scholarship applications, etc? I looked on their website but didn’t see any kind of policy statement.</p>
<p>Most colleges (including NYU) allow their Early Decision candidates to apply EA elsewhere concurrently (and even Regular Decision) but with the stipulation that the student will enroll at the ED college if admitted, even if other better offers show up at the same time.</p>
<p>Of course, ED applicants who have applied for financial aid can always use that as an “out,” should an EA college offer more money. There is a lot of gray area surrounding this process. For instance, if a family decides that a grant of, say, $20K will make the ED school affordable, and the ED school actually offers $22K, then the student should feel obliged to enroll. But if the EA school offers $30K, the student may decide to bail on the ED school and enroll at the EA school instead. </p>
<p>Is this ethical? Technically no. The ED college has met the student’s need and the student has signed a commitment to enroll. But would most students attend the ED school under these circumstances? Probably not. It depends on whether that college was a true top choice, clearly well above the other school in the candidate’s heart, and on how the parents feel the $8K difference will affect their finances, stress levels, etc.</p>
<p>But, if the ED college does NOT meet the applicant’s need, then the applicant is free to attend the EA college (or any other one) without feeling the slightest buzz of bad karma. And this sounds like mayateresa’s situation.</p>
<p>Thanks for the clarification! ED wasn’t an option for our family since we needed to compare FA packages, but I always appreciate gaining a better understanding of these policies.</p>