<p>paupowpew,</p>
<p>Did Vanderbilt not send you an estimated award with your acceptance letter or close to the time that you received it? Did you turn in your CSS profile and FAFSA in a timely manner? ED1 applicants got estimated award letters in with their acceptance letters. I am not sure what they did with ED2 applicants. You are correct that you need to be able to see that before fully committing. However, you may want to call the financial aid office and get an idea since your matriculation deposit is due on Tuesday, March 1st. </p>
<p>Many people will say not to apply ED if money is a factor. I personally believe that if you have an idea of what your aid will be and you can swing that then it is okay to go ahead with ED. Prior to my daughter applying, I contacted the Vandy financial aid office and asked them if there is an online calculator that would give me a somewhat accurate estimate. They pointed me in the direction of the College Board’s calculator using the Institutional Method. When my daughter received her estimated aid letter, it showed that the CB calculator was pretty much right on. I didn’t check dollar for dollar but it was in the range I expected. So, my advice would be to contact Vanderbilt and find out when you will receive your aid letter and also try the CB calculator. It should be pretty close as long as your numbers are close to accurate. Just be sure you include everything.</p>
<p>In addition, please understand that people aren’t trying to give you a lesson on morality. You and your parents signed the ED agreement knowing that it was binding and if accepted you would be expected to matriculate. Vanderbilt is counting on this. The people you are encountering in this thread willingly signed the same agreement and those that were accepted followed through on their commitment. ED is not meant as a way of comparing prices. </p>
<p>I do get a sense that you have a bit of buyers remorse though and I understand that. It is VERY scary to think of the cost to attend a school like Vanderbilt especially since it clearly wasn’t your first choice and probably still isn’t. I have no idea what your financial situation is, but I will tell you that Vanderbilt is very generous with their grant money. I hope everything works out for you.</p>