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my email:

I had just one more question. When you said, "If your financial aid package is insufficient then you are allowed to back out of the ED commitment," what qualifies an insufficient package. Is it
deemed sufficent if it meets the EFC? Or is it subjective, and up to my parents as to what we sufficient?

reply from admissions counselor:

What qualifies as insufficient is up to you and your parents. If they package you receive does not meet the needs of your family you have the right to say we cant afford. We, at ---- do deem it sufficient if it meets the EFC. I do hope that helps clarify.

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First of all, I think the reply was extremely confusing. What I make of it, though, is that if your family SAYS they can't afford that financial aid package, they are allowed to back out. Although the email probably could be interpreted in a different way.

By Folk_Hero (Folk_Hero) on Monday, November 03, 2003 - 08:09 pm: Edit

Sounds like it is up to your family to me. Sounds fair, too. Only you know how much you have left when you pay your bills every month. If you don't mind my asking, what school?

By Kad (Kad) on Monday, November 03, 2003 - 09:35 pm: Edit

An LAC in Ohio is all I want to say.

My EFC is near 1500. If it really is this easy to back out of ED, I do not see any negative aspects to applying such.

By Wisconsinguy (Wisconsinguy) on Tuesday, November 04, 2003 - 08:50 am: Edit

Dude, if your EFC is only $1500, there is no way they'd let you out--they'd send out the blacklist letter keeping you from getting in anywhere else. $1500 is less than a full summer of work. It's easy.

By Folk_Hero (Folk_Hero) on Tuesday, November 04, 2003 - 07:16 pm: Edit

Uh, you forgot about loans. With that EFC, you can easily graduate still owing the full cost of your education plus interest, even if the school meets full need. And this isn't Princeton. Disadvantages of ED... Well, they might give you a so-so package and you won't be able to shop around. You might decide to suck it up and take it, when you could have had a near full ride elsewhere.

By Wisconsinguy (Wisconsinguy) on Wednesday, November 05, 2003 - 08:25 am: Edit

But loans as a general rule don't make up that much of a package. From my experiences with financial aid, most private LACs give more grant than loan, especially to someone whose EFC is only $1500. Even with $4000 or whatever in loans, it's still dirt cheap and he'll have a difficult time getting out.

By Kad (Kad) on Wednesday, November 05, 2003 - 04:45 pm: Edit

Anything higher than $10,000 in loans is unacceptable for me. Lower than that is okay, though.

By Kad (Kad) on Tuesday, November 11, 2003 - 12:34 pm: Edit

Haha, this is my estimated financial aid package from a school:

16,500 College Grant
5,600 Pell & SEOG (estimated)
2,625 Stafford Loan
3,000 Federal Perkins Loan
1,500 Campus Employment/Work Study

Not bad. Total estimated cost of the college, including books and personal expenses, is near 31,000.

By Mk1o3o (Mk1o3o) on Tuesday, November 11, 2003 - 11:05 pm: Edit

If I could reword the question a little...if you dont mind...

Here's some information on JHU financial aid: Johns Hopkins says that about 50% of the freshmen class receive financial aid, the AVERAGE student grant is $22,000, and the total yearly costs there are estimated to be around $40,000 to attend.

If you were applying Early Decision to..maybe..Johns Hopkins University, what kind of financial aid problems would you have to have to get out of the ED bind?