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You are right, you are purely speculating, and in one aspect you are clearly wrong.</p>
<p>As was pointed out above, the common app ED form specifically makes an exception for financial aid shortfalls. This is the standard practice among universities. AU is the exception if they send this letter when ED accepted students decline for this reason. And this is the only thing we are talking about. If a student declines for nearly any other reason (I am assuming AU would not send such a letter if a student were, for example, paralyzed in an accident or in a coma or some other extreme personal tragedy, despite KBJ’s statement to the effect that the letter is sent if anyone declines ever for any reason. I really wouldn’t have expected him to have to enumerate those kinds of exceptions), then I could see a school voicing their displeasure over the breaking of a moral contract, if not a particularly enforceable legal one. No one said otherwise.</p>
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No such picture of the admissions counselors was being painted, and your statement about mocking ED acceptees is just weird, no one said that either that I remember. We said that in the scenario under discussion, they are being made to feel even worse than they undoubtedly already do, but not by mocking but instead by unfairness and insensitivity. In fact I can tell that KJB seems to be a very nice guy and no doubt a fine admissions counselor. Just because I find a school’s admission policy(ies) mean-spirited doesn’t translate into my thinking the admissions counselors are. But I feel pretty confident that the way AU is handling this FA issue with regard to ED applicants is not the way most other schools handles it. Otherwise how do you explain the wording in the common app?</p>