<p>Ok so ya know how if you gett accepted ED to a school you are like binded and like required to go there? Is there a loophole to not having to go there such as not getting enough financial aid and saying you cant afford it.</p>
<p>So the early decision commitment is not contractual and you won’t get sued if you don’t choose to matriculate (I’m not sure if you can, but if you can I’ve never heard of it happening). However, if you don’t matriculate and you don’t get permission from the university that you were admitted to under early decision then they will find out where you were admitted, contact those universities, and request that they rescind your admission. So if you reneg, probably the best you’re going to do is either some university that’s willing to forgive you or more likely community college.</p>
<p>That being said, the specific answer to your question is yes. If you can prove that you cannot afford it you can get out of the commitment. Although, what constitutes “proof” I don’t know. Since most students take out SOME loans, I would imagine there would have to be a hard, thick line of “this is too much to take out in loans and claim you can afford it.”</p>
<p>Here is the rule from the Common App:
<a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/docs/downloadforms/ED_Agreement.pdf</a></p>
<p>So if they don’t offer you enough, you say thanks but no thanks, and apply elsewhere. You don’t have to prove anything (imagine what would happen if they didn’t accept your proof!). Other schools don’t care if the ED school was not able to offer you enough to attend; some schools have a bigger endowment, and can be more generous.</p>
<p>But apply ED only to your dream school, when your only question is: can I afford it? Otherwise apply RD so you can compare FA offers.</p>
<p>Im in a situation where i don t know if i 100% want to go to CMU if i get in but my dad wants me to apply ED because he thinks thats all he has to say if i dont want to go there…he said all you have to say is sorry but we thought we would get more aid so thanks but we decline. Does applying ED give you a better chance to get in because i dont have too high of expectations of getting in anyway?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, your dad is incorrect. Think about it, if all you had to say was you thought you would get more aid and you’d be off the hook, everyone would apply ED.</p>
<p>There is a financial aid estimate on their site. It is supposed to be pretty accurate, so just fill that out and if it isn’t appealing either don’t apply, or apply RD.</p>
<p>The most important thing to realize is that their definition of affordable and yours are probably vastly different. So I guess tread lightly when trying to trick CMU (or any college for that matter), because things might not work out the way you want them to.</p>
<p>yeah but this quote pretty much gives you backup right?</p>
<p>Here is the rule from the Common App:
Quote:
"Should a student who applies for financial aid not be offered an award that makes attendance possible, the student may decline the offer of admission and be released from the Early Decision commitment. "</p>
<p>The problem is that if CMU is not your dream school, and you turn down the ED offer because it just doesn’t seem very good, you could find at RD time that no other school offers you more, and then it’s too late to go back to CMU.</p>
<p>vonlost i understand where you are coming from and realize that would be the disadvantage but do you agree that its not that CMU is deciding wether the financial aid they give me is affordable for me or not but that I can decide if it is affordable to attend and if i dont think its manageable then i can decline admission with no problems or questions asked?</p>
<p>"Does applying ED give you a better chance to get in because i dont have too high of expectations of getting in anyway? "-Panther22</p>
<p>At Carnegie it does not make much of a difference.</p>
<p>why not at carnegie nathcnam? does it help at other colleges?</p>
<p>Yes, just as the rule says, it is your decision if it’s enough. Schools use standard formulas that don’t capture every family’s situation accurately.</p>
<p>ok thanks this makes me feel better</p>
<p>I’m not so sure. The admissions counselor I interviewed with basically said it was not a big factor. In his words “ED would not push a RD reject into an acceptance.” Carnegie’s ED admit rate is 21%. Their total admit rate is 33%. So statistically, applying ED gives you less of a chance of getting in. <a href=“http://www.cmu.edu/ira/CDS/pdf/cds_2010_11/c_firstyear_admission.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cmu.edu/ira/CDS/pdf/cds_2010_11/c_firstyear_admission.pdf</a></p>
<p>“ED would not push a RD reject into an acceptance.”</p>
<p>The issue is more ED pushing an RD waitlistee (“students who met admission requirements but whose final admission was contingent on space availability”) to acceptance.</p>
<p>This isn’t a game kiddies.</p>
<p>“attendance possible” is defined as COA-EFC = Unmet need
Which can then be loans, grants and work study.</p>
<p>Just b/c you don’t like loans and work study (also known as “student self help” at CMU and everywhere) doesn’t mean you get to walk.</p>
<p>You ONLY get to walk if there’s loss of guardian/ parental employment and undue hardship from medical expenses.</p>
<p>So COA (rounding) 55,000
Your EFC 35000
NEED is 20000 which can be max loans and work study-- 5500 + 2900 – and all CMU gies you is 12600.
That’s making attendance possible -not impossible and you’re bound to attend.</p>
<p>SO run the estimate and run the FAFSA estimator - make sure your family knows your EFC so you apply to schools you can afford.
CMU does not promise to meet need for RD nor for continuing students and they are crystal clear transparent about that.</p>
<p>mom, in your scenario, what happens when attendance is thus compelled and the family cannot pay the bill? Is the student expelled, or does CMU come up with extra aid, perhaps in the form of forced loans?</p>
<p>Does CMU document your scenario?</p>
<p>cannot pay and will not pay are not the same.</p>
<p>As far as CMU and any school is concerned on early decision…you are expected to pay your EFC as calculated by FAFSA. </p>
<p>This number is very often a rude awakening for most families-- run the FAFSA estimator and run the CMU early estimate.<br>
That’s what you have to pay – if you will not pay it b/c you don’t think it’s something you can handle, that’s kinda the sad situation of the middle class. This however will not get you out of an ED offer.</p>
<p>Read all the pleas of help around April and May all over CC =-especially the fin aid threads. This happens in all colleges.</p>
<p>EFC-- that’s what you have to pay everywhere!</p>
<p>I think you must document CMU’s refusal to follow the Common Application rule to make your cautions believable. Think of the horrible publicity for a school if attendance were compelled in spite of protests that the bill couldn’t be paid, and then students were expelled for lack of payment. Hint: It doesn’t happen. If it did, ED applications from non-affluent top students would dry up.</p>
<p>Panther22, you can ask the CMU financial aid office what happens if the ED FA offer is not enough to support attendance. Ask if the Common App rule applies. Ask if you can decline the offer, or if you are forced to attend.</p>
<p>I don’t think you need to worry about a school compelling attendance. But… the problem is having another school accept you. It is my understanding that your school counselor would be required, ethically, to inform another school that you broke an ED agreement - and most (all?) of the top tier schools will frown upon that, unless you can REALLY document the financial hardship.</p>
<p>You may end up with a gap year, or a local/community college year if you do not honor an ED agreement, and cannot satisfactorily prove that there was a true financial hardship. This is why schools have only a handful of ED kids not honor their commitment each year.</p>
<p>I’m not expert - that’s just the way it was explained to me when my son was considering ED.</p>
<p>I would suggest you talk to the school you are considering for ED and ask how often an ED acceptee cannot afford the school. Talk to your guidance counselor about the logistics of “backing out” of an ED agreement. Maybe do some more thorough internet research - but don’t rely solely on an internet forum of random parents and students for this important information. Then make an informed decision.</p>
<p>Declining an ED FA offer is not breaking the agreement (read the Common App rule!). Backing out after accepting the offer is breaking the agreement. There are no ethics involved if the ED FA is not enough.</p>
<p>Yes, talk to the COLLEGES if you have ED questions, not your HS; many HS GCs don’t understand the rules or misstate them.</p>