<p>First of all, I am 100% certain I do not qualify for any need based aid. However, my parents would strongly prefer my college cost to be ~40k.</p>
<p>If I were to ED into a school and get accepted but not receive enough aid for the costs to be <40k, would I be able to reject their admission?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Run the Net Price Calculator for the college. If COA is calculated above 40K, don’t apply. It would hardly be ethical to apply and then turn down an offer that you knew going in would be unworkable. </p>
<p>Technically. But I wouldn’t apply ED unless I was sure there is some possible aid out there. Some colleges are sneakier than others and claim that a student can come based off their income and just tack on extra loans. Why not look for colleges that are affordable or have merit?</p>
<p>Thanks for the help guys.</p>
<p>@shawnspencer we all have our “dream” schools and such that we want to ED to, but cost was a factor. I was trying to rely on the chance that they would give me merit aid. </p>
<p>Make a realistic assessment of how likely you are to get sufficient merit aid at the school in question.</p>
<p>Note that it is entirely possible for a school to be less generous with merit aid for ED applicants, if it believes that it has no need to offer merit aid to attract the student away from another school, since ED signals that the school is already the student’s first choice.</p>
<p>The short answer is yes</p>