CBS Early Decision + Merit Fellowships

If CBS stopped giving merit aid to ED applicants do you really think anyone would keep applying during this round? Some marginal candidates who would never get scholarships may, but the applicant pool would largely dry up after a few years of withholding aid from ED applicants, and this is the opposite of what CBS, in their metric-gaming yield schemes, wants.

Schools are always more generous with aid to applicants that apply early. There are no hard set numbers as this number is constantly changing. From my experience, my clients that received merit scholarships tend to be clients who have worked in public sectors or with community improvement. CBS knows that these applicants might have a hard time paying for loans and provide them with scholarships to help offset the costs. Also some monies are earmarked for specific reasons. So an investment banking scholarship will most likely go to the applicant that applies ED that has the best essays and story according to the admissions committee.

Do you honestly think that Columbia wouldn't offer stellar RD applicants more $$ if given the chance?

Stellar Applicant (RD): I got into Columbia, Booth, and Kellogg. Booth and Kellogg are offering me $30K / year, but you are only offering me $10k / year. I really want to stay in NYC. Is there anything you can do?

Do you really think that CBS is going to say "Sorry, despite our $500MM endowment, we only have $10K to give you"? Not only are they losing out on a stellar applicant, but this would also hurt their yield. They are likely to give this person more merit aid.

Stellar Applicant (ED): I got into Columbia, but they are only offering me $3K / year. I signed the ED pledge, guess I have to go now...

Logic dictates that CBS will give more merit aid to RD admits because these admits have more leverage. Given that premise, to get an average number of $10K of aid per student, CBS would have to give less merit aid for ED admits.

Ok John, but that is not different from the argument you were making earlier and has nothing to do with the article you linked to . . . My argument is that if CBS continued to do this their entire ED applicant pool would essential dry up, defeating the purpose of that round in the first place.

I think John might be another iteration of Brady

I'm saying the ED applicant pool would dry up you dolt. If it was common knowledge that they reserved aid for later round candidates, many applicants would apply later rather than earlier.

You are confusing absolute vs. relative aid.

Like I stated before, many people would still apply ED, regardless of aid. If 100 people decide to apply RD rather than ED, so what? There are still hundreds more that would apply ED, and Columbia can accept people from that pool while giving them 0 fellowship aid.