Jump to content

Menu

Early Decision?


retiredHSmom
 Share

Recommended Posts

I know that Early Decision is binding but what about financial aid numbers?

 

My son wants to attend Texas A&M.  It is his top choice. He just got an SAT score high enough for an automatic admission.  However, as a resident of Virginia he cannot attend unless he receives an in-state tuition waiver (which requires $4000 in annual scholarships from the university). 

 

We would both love to apply ED and be done but if he applys ED and doesn't get the scholarships he needs are we still committed?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I understand it correctly, ED is only binding if the financial aid offer makes it feasible for the family to have the student attend. The student may, even with ED, decline to attend if the family cannot afford it.

 

The problem is that, with ED, you only have that school's financial aid offer, and no other offers to compare it to. Also, it is often said that schools reserve the larger aid packages for undecided students and are more stingy with the ED students. I do not know to what degree this is actually the case.

 

ETA: If your student qualifies for automatic admission, I am not sure I see any value in applying ED.

Edited by regentrude
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For binding early decision, most (?all) schools have a clause that say you can turn them down if you don't get enough financial aid. However, it's best to know that you are likely to get the money you need. You will not be able to compare offers with other schools as you most likely won't have any other early financial aid offers.

 

For Texas A&M, I see early action, but not a binding early decision. I may simply be missing it, but I'd certainly suggest applying early action. This will simply get your decision from the university sooner so that you can make decisions. You can apply to multiple schools early action and you aren't committing to any of them.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

TAMU only seems to have Early Action for Engineering and that's non-binding. TBH though, many students probably applied the day ApplyTexas went live at the beginning of August. I'd turn in my application asap. I live in Texas so this shapes my perspective. There are lots of kids who have their hearts set on being Aggies or Longhorns and apply the day the application opens.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

TAMU application opened July 1 this year, He might want to get on those essays.

He is working on them.  He is a concrete, fact based person and these emotional essays are hard for him.  You are the third or fourth person to mention this.  It is not rolling admissions. The application is open until December 1 why are we in such a hurry?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My son was the same with the essays , so I do understand. I am sorry I was so short. I am trying to convey some urgency that people reading stats for TAMU out of state do not quite understand.

 

The accademic admit status that your son will have due to his SAT scores is for the whole university, not the engineering school. So he could be admitted, just not to his major, and it is almost impossible to transfer into it later. Many accademic and automatic admits do not get full admit to the engineering school. There are many, many more qualified applicants than spots. The admission stats for TAMU include people who get conditional admission to the school through Blinn team ( taking most classes at the community college and a few at TAMU) or the satellite school at Galveston. I would advise you to spend a little time on College Confidential looking at TAMU engineering. People are looking for admssion notifications now, so you are a little behind with application...not saying it won't still be ok. Housing is also assigned on first come, fist serve basis. They typically run out of spaces in Jan/Feb but I think the Hullabaloo dorm (filled early October last year)and engineering dorm may fill earlier. He can apply for housing around when he submits his app. Hope this helps, I don't want to stress you out, but do want you to research when people are applying , so he can be competitive.

 

If he needs the scholarship to attend, then I would have few safety back up schools as they are notoriously hard to get. Wishing you all the best of luck!

Edited by Silver Brook
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It IS rolling admissions, and it has also been reported on College Confidential that some scholarships are awarded first-come, first-served--those who are qualified and apply early get them, and when they run out, they run out. So to maximize your chances of reaching the $4,000, it would be worthwhile to apply as early as possible.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...