<p>A friend of mine told me that if you have other colleges offering you money it will increase your chances to get money from colleges that havn't offered you anything almost like a competition to get you to go there is there any merit to this?</p>
<p>My understanding is: yes.</p>
<p>After you get offers, you can try to negotiate higher packages - and sometimes it works.</p>
<p>It can. But YOU are the one who has to take the offers and negotiate, very, very tactfully. It's not like it happens automatically. YOU get the aid packages, and YOU have to inform the other schools as they are not going to know what other offers you have. Although I have read and heard success stories about kids in that situation you describe, the reality I have personally seen, has not netted that much. If you can truly commit to a school, and the hang up is the financial package, and a like or more selective school has offered you a favorable package, a sincere appeal to the aid officer will certainly get you some consideration. Some loans may be replaced by a grant. Work study hours may be found. A tiny alumni grant may appear. It's rare that it get into a bidding war; you have to be one hot applicant for that to happen. The family I know who got the best negotiated package had very favorable geographics, and when the student's first choice school was informed that she would go there if the numbers could be adjusted, and competing schools offers where submitted, her choice did come up with a comparable package. From what I heard, the school is one that does get a lot of out of area kids applying, but most end up at a more local, or well known college. To get a kid living in an area underrepresented at the school, was something the college was pursuing. Another package I know, was re-evaluated and upped, again from someone poised to sign the acceptance commitment, but the offer was chinzier than other schools' Providenc want males, and since the gap was not too bad, they threw in the difference to get the kid.</p>