I wanted to know that if a student is accepted ED at Cornell, then under what circumstances can he/she not attend Cornell and attend a different university?
Proving that it is impossible for your family financially.
You don’t have to prove it at all, after all, if they meet financial need then by definition it is possible for you to attend, however if it is not enough for your family then you can reject it outright along with your admission and attend another school (as long as its a public state university since you should have no other apps).
^ the student can have as many apps as they want (ea, rolling…) but cannot accept any other offer unless after making a good faith attempt at contacting the college about the insufficient financial package, they determine it is not affordable.
‘Receiving a better financial offer’ does NOT count. If Cornell is affordable, you promise to go there even if it’s not your cheapest option.
If you are thinking of ways to get out of an ED commitment before you even apply, then I strongly suggest you apply RD.
An ED application should only be submitted if: 1) the school is your absolute 100% top choice and 2) you have no need to compare financial offers from different colleges.
“An ED application should only be submitted if … you have no need to compare financial offers from different colleges.”
It’s not that simple for many applicants. You may have a need to compare financial offers (ED/EA or later RD) to what is affordable, which is not an absolute, and can be a moving target (unusual expenses, job change, etc.). If you are admitted ED requesting FA, you accept or decline the offer (no proof of anything is required). If you decline (assumedly for financial reasons), the school might ask you for more financial data, if they want you badly enough.
^^^I don’t think we disagree on the facts. What I meant/hoped to say is that if a family wants to have the opportunity to hold multiple offers (including acceptances and financial packages) at one time in order to compare costs at a number of schools then ED probably isn’t the best route. If an ED acceptance is offered by a college and taken by an applicant, then the applicant must agree to withdraw his/her applications from other colleges. Barring an unusual circumstance, the applicant must accept or decline (if they say it is not financially do-able) the offer. For people who want to be in a position where they have multiple offers and multiple financial packages in hand simultaneously the RD path would be preferable to ED.