<p>What rocketDA said, 100%. Also, the common wisdom says not to apply ED if you hope to shop financial aid offers. ED means you will matriculate if admitted, assuming the financial aid offer makes it possible.</p>
<p>(Aside, if you ever wanted to stir things up a little on the Parents forum, you might post a question like this: I was admitted to X college ED… Y college gave me a better offer… how do I back out from X? Hours and hours of popcorn-worthy entertainment, especially if one of the colleges is an Ivy and the other is U.Chicago. ;))</p>