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I was accepted early decision to a university, and today I received the financial aid package. I was wondering if the figures they have giving me will change once I submit FAFSA and the 2003 Income taxes? And if they do change, will it be a drastic change? I don't want to be all excited that I will be able to attend the university and then for it to turn out that my grant was reduced and my parents expected contribution increased. If that does happen then I will not be able to attend the university. I would love some feedback from people who have been accepted early decision before and how their final financial aid package changed from the estimates they got in December.

By Emilyp114 (Emilyp114) on Wednesday, December 31, 2003 - 09:12 pm: Edit

In my experience, with my friends at NYU (I didn't qualify for need-based aid), the initial financial aid package was pretty close to what they ended up getting. Why did you apply E.D. if financial aid was a concern? It's a mistake to apply E.D. if you really need to weigh offers of aid from different schools.

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Thursday, January 01, 2004 - 10:03 am: Edit

If you were required to fill out a CSS Profile or some other type of FinAid questionaire AND you did so with good estimates of what will actually happen on your tax return, then your aid package will probably not change much. It could go up!

The best advice I got from the FinAid office when my daughters were accepted ED was simply, "Have faith!" It did turn out OK---and usually does. A good college is not out to mess over their accepted ED students that have financial need.