It depends upon the schools involved. There are schools where the GCs and AOs know each other for years. The AOs visit the high schools, personally talk to the kids there and to the GC there.
It’s not a pro quid pro game. Absolutely not. But, yes, it colors the reputation and feel of a school when a kid that the GC advocates drips ED for spurious reasons. There is good reason for the GC to sign that contract. High school GCs with a lot of their students applying ED take that contract very seriously as it impacts their reputation. In fact, at such schools, students often get more pushback from the GC than the college about reneging on ED
There are many scenarios where the GC might not even notice or care. But if you are in a situation where it’s very important to have your GC as a strong advocate for you, especially for those RD applications you are sending out, it’s not a good idea to back out of ED without a very. Very good reason. Insufficient financial aid is one of those reasons. No, the NP c is not required to be run—I never said items. It is highly recommended do that student and family gets a good idea up front if the school might be affordable abc if the numbers don’t pan out, with fin aid it’s a good point of discussion, to get it possibly increased. It also serves as an early warning. If Swarthmore’s NPC and package do not match closely enough at ED, and the review confirms it, do you really think Amherst, Middlebury and like school are going to come up with better in their aid vs NPC?
Most important in all of this is that the student, the parent and the GC are signing a contract. Not a good way to start adult hood renting on it.
Do not get me wrong here, there are very good reasons to back out of ED. The failsafe clause is very simple—insufficient financial aid. No verification needed. If the aid package is deemed insufficient, you can opt out of ED and that school is off your list.