<p>I want to apply early decision to my top choice college, but I will need financial aid to attend. In the ED contract, it says that if you don’t get enough FA you are released from the binding contract. However, some people have told me that even if you are released from the ED contract because you didn’t get enough FA, you will be put on a kind of “blacklist” for all other colleges. Is this true? I’m kind of scared to apply ED now.</p>
<p>
No, you don’t. Insufficient FA is the one reason you are allowed to decline ED.</p>
<p>If you need financial aid, and you would like to be able to compare the “offers”, then don’t apply ED.</p>
<p>Ask yourself why any other college would blacklist you. Other schools may have a larger endowment and be able to offer more, or other schools may simply want you more, based on a particular feature of your application.</p>
<p>An exception is a college consortium that uses the same FA calculation; there’s no point in offering you an RD spot if you couldn’t afford it at ED time.</p>
<p>If you get accepted ED, you will receive an estimated FA package. If you still cannot afford it, you can meet with the schools FA Office - they will release you after meeting with them and you will not be blacklisted from competing schools. You are always free to attend one of your in-state schools.</p>
<p>Erin’s Dad:</p>
<p>But who determines what is “insufficient”?. What stops a kid from simply declaring a very good financial aid offer to be “insufficient”.</p>
<p>@floridadad55 “Insufficient” means your family is not in a position in which they are able to afford the school even with the offered FA. It happens more often than you’d think.</p>
<p>Though many times they are willing to work with you and offer more FA or alternative options before it gets to the point where you have to be released from the contract.</p>
<p>Only the family can decide if an offer is not enough to support attendance. There’s nothing a school can or would do to compel attendance. There’s nothing legal involved; it’s an agreement, not a contract, but there can be consequences for frivolous non-financial reneging.</p>
<p>The question for me about affordability, and who decides what’s affordable in an ED offer, is how much of the offer is in loans? They could say anything if affordable if you’re willing to take on loans above your EFC.</p>
<p>The family decides, not the school. If too much is in loans, turn down the ED offer.</p>
<p>There was a very long thread about this last year. </p>
<p>EACH SCHOOL IS DIFFERENT IN WHETHER THEY ENCOURAGE OR DISCOURAGE YOU TO APPLY ED IF YOU NEED FINANCIAL AID. SOME ENCOURAGE, SOME DISCOURAGE. THERE IS NO UNIVERSAL ANSWER.</p>
<p>Read their policies on their websites very carefully.</p>