What is the downside to applying ED/EA?

Applying to College
1

<p>One of my friend’s dad told me that applying ED has its ups and downs. The up side is that you have a higher chance of getting in but the down side is that the financial aid package isn’t very flexible and thus you might wind up paying a bit more than if you applied regularly?</p>

<p>Is this true? Can I get some clarification?</p>

2

<p>Often, if you are a strong candidate, you can go to your first choice school and say “I really want to go here, but school X offered me a much better deal” If they really want you, they might be able to find you a bit more aid. EA is not such an issue, but it does mean you will need to apply to other schools so you can get some sort of comparison.</p>

<p>I put “early decision financial aid” into google and got some hits. here is one:
<a href=“http://money.cnn.com/2005/12/09/pf/college/early_decision/index.htm[/url]”>http://money.cnn.com/2005/12/09/pf/college/early_decision/index.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>I dont see any downside in applying EA. non-binding, find out admissions decision early, can apply to more than one. sounds good to me :)</p>

4

<p>Just to warn you though, a lot of schools that do early action require that you only apply to one school EA, including Stanford, Yale, and a whole lot of others.</p>

5

<p>Schools that require you only apply to one EA school call it SCEA (single choice…) it is pretty clear which ones do that.</p>

6

<p>I hadn’t heard that and plan to apply to four schools EA. UNC, Elon, NC State, ECU.</p>

7

<p>The article also includes the pros of ED</p>

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<p><a href=“http://princetonreview.com/college/apply/articles/types/applyearly.asp[/url]”>http://princetonreview.com/college/apply/articles/types/applyearly.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

8

<p>well if you apply early, you’re up against some REALLY strong applicants so you might look bad in comparison (not you specifically of course, i mean in general)</p>

<p>also, colleges have to save room for the regular decision people, even if they don’t know how strong the pool will be, so some good people who apply early might not get in</p>