Increase chance for merit aid

twoinanddone
Tue, 07 Jan 2020 15:50:43 +0000

You don’t get to set the rules of ED applications and say you will only attend if awarded merit aid. In fact, the ED contract states you will attend if accepted, and the ‘out’ is if FA is not sufficient. Often the merit scholarships (the competitive ones at the schools you listed) aren’t awarded until long after the ED admit is required to be confirmed with a deposit (and you are required to withdraw other applications).

Most schools don’t negotiate merit aid - you either get a merit award or you don’t. Need based FA is what is flexible, and you say you don’t qualify for it. Those schools are need blind for admissions, so the admissions office will not know your financial situation.