Dear Harry: We have a daughter who is a high-school senior. She is considering applying for early admission to her chosen university. Her grades from a great school are in the top 1 percent, and she scored very well on her recent SAT tests. Her prospects are very good. However, she will need some sort of financial aid in the form of grants and loans. Her guidance counselor at school has told her that early admission puts her at a disadvantage in this regard because she is then committed to that university and no other. We have been kicking this back and forth among ourselves with our daughter insisting that she wants to go for the early admission anyway. We could probably stretch (with loans from our bank or a PLUS loan) to pay the tuition. Any thoughts?
Harry Gross: College pick may well be a costly one
What Harry says: You have hit on a serious dilemma. There are those who say that you should never apply for early admission unless you intend to pay the full tuition from your own resources. When you are committed to a particular school, and no other, your bargaining position for financial aid is hampered. They also point out that a good student who tested well will usually get admitted to her first choice by applying for regular admission. That's a risk that your daughter is unwilling to take. The real question for you is to determine if that first choice is important enough for you to take the stretch of outside borrowing. Are her second and third choices so inferior?
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