<p>Oh, I’m not at all saying that they <em>should</em> take the chance. Just giving my experience.</p>
<p>And all I can say is that people here have been able to drop when they display financial hardship. And considering they can only give you so much money, from my experience when completing my application/ED forms, insufficient aid was grounds for getting out of the contract. “Demonstrating” only means showing some sort of statement or taxes to display that you cannot pay the EFC they offer. The school simply cannot force you to attend if you do not have the money.</p>
<p>Again, not saying you should definitely do ED, fas, as it is a very hefty decision of course in any manner, just that I don’t believe it is a major risk to go that route if you worry about the ED binding clause, from experience. For your original question, it is <em>always</em> a needs-blind process, and they will offer you the same amount as they would during the RD cycle; the perk of ED is that does often benefit your chances, though it gets more competitive every year. I would suggest calling the office when the time comes up to apply to double check on things, and don’t be afraid to appeal whether you go through ED or RD.</p>