As many readers of this website already know, it can be very difficult for prospective college and graduate students to apply to different educational programs if they have limited financial means. The cost of application fees and traveling to different campuses can add up, and individuals can be limited in their educational options if they are restricted financially. One of the common beliefs about lower-income students is that individuals hoping to receive financial aid should not apply early decision to any schools. Early decision programs usually require a binding agreement to attend a school if accepted, and it can be difficult to shop around for different financial aid offers if you are bound to attend one school. However, receiving financial aid after applying early decision is usually possible, and as my story demonstrates, you can receive generous financial assistance even if you apply early decision to a school.
While I was applying to colleges, I really wanted to attend Brandeis University. I toured the campus, and I truly felt like I belonged at the school. However, I knew that one of my high school classmates, who had much better grades than me, was also applying to Brandeis.
In order to give myself the best chance possible at being admitted, I decided to apply early decision to Brandeis. By applying to Brandeis early decision, I might have heard back from Brandeis before my classmate submitted his application. At the time, I was not thinking much about receiving financial aid after applying early decision, I just wanted to make sure that I had the best chance possible of being admitted to Brandeis.
After submitting my application, I first heard from friends and educational professionals that receiving financial aid after applying early decision could be difficult. This made me nervous, since I was relying on financial aid to help me pay for college. While I waited to hear back from Brandeis, I continued to work on applications to other colleges, and I completed a number of forms and other documents necessary to receive scholarships and financial aid from other schools.
A few months after I applied to Brandeis early decision, and well before many of my classmates knew whether they had been accepted to colleges, I found out that I had been admitted. I was excited to be accepted to a college earlier than many of my classmates, but I had an impending feeling of dread about my chances of receiving financial aid after applying early decision. Months after I had been accepted to Brandeis, I received a thick package in the mail containing my financial aid information. I was happy to discover that I had received financial aid to cover most of the cost of attending college.
My story shows that sometimes, when you apply to solid universities, you have to trust that receiving financial aid after applying early decision will not be a problem. Even though you might not be able to shop around for different financial aid offers when you apply early decision, colleges typically won’t use the fact that you are bound to their university against you when making financial aid determinations.
As previously mentioned on this website, it is much more difficult to obtain financial aid as a graduate student. Although merit scholarships are available for many graduate programs, most graduate schools do not offer need-based financial aid. However, some top law schools do offer need-based financial aid to qualified applicants.
As discussed in a few prior articles, I applied to Georgetown Law as a transfer student. Georgetown Law had an early assurance transfer program that allowed students to apply to transfer to Georgetown Law after just their first semester of law school. This program did not bind applicants to attend Georgetown Law. However, since applicants heard back from Georgetown much earlier than other transfer programs, and had to sign paperwork and make a deposit to secure a seat before learning about other transfer opportunities, this program can obligate applicants to pick Georgetown Law.
Nevertheless, my experiences with Georgetown Law prove that receiving financial aid after applying early decision is possible even as a law student. Although I was obligated to Georgetown Law before hearing from other programs, I still received generous financial aid from Georgetown Law. What is most surprising is that I received this financial aid even though I was a transfer student to Georgetown Law.
It seems that schools have less motivation to offer financial aid to transfer students than students admitted through the regular admissions process. This is because the backgrounds of transfer students are not typically assessed when ranking schools, so there might be less incentives to convince transfer students to attend a school through a generous financial aid package. Nevertheless, my story shows that receiving financial aid after applying early decision as a transfer student is possible at some of the top schools, since these programs are committed to helping students regardless of whether the schools receive anything in return.
In the end, there are many strategies associated with applying to educational programs, and applicants of limited financial means can be restricted in how they apply to schools. However, students who require need-based financial aid to attend college or graduate school should not be afraid to apply to a school through an early decision program if this is an advantageous strategy. Receiving financial aid after applying early decision is definitely possible, and applicants need to trust that schools will do the right thing when it comes to financial aid.