<p>Deerfield has accepted my candidacy for grade 11. However, I have been denied FA even though my family is clearly unable to pay the 52k a year tuition fee. Is there any way I can reverse their decision concerning this? Is it even possible to do so?</p>
<p>You can contact them to discuss it.</p>
<p>Do you have a specific hook? Could your family pay more than 30% of the tuition? When you contact the school let them know your family can contribute.</p>
<p>We informed them in our FA applciation that we were able to pay 50% of it. I have good contacts with the Varsity hockey coach who wants me to play for his team. Should I start there?</p>
<p>Also, do you know anyone who has previously been in my situation and has managed to negotiate the tuition fee?</p>
<p>You should absolutely contact the hockey coach. If it is your #1 choice let them know that if you are given the 50% aid you will be there. Yes, I have seen athletes get fin aid in the same situation. Not non athletes</p>
<p>Acenthehole is correct. I have a son that plays baseball and renegotiated his FA from a top boarding school because they were interested. Don’t know if it would of occurred otherwise.</p>
<p>It can’t hurt to ask-- but be honest and make it clear that you DO want to come but it the money that is at issue. Be careful if you mention what another school is offering as they might think that you are “playing them” – it can be discussed, but very carefully.</p>
<p>Is it possible for them to decide to deny my application if I push the FA issue too far?</p>
<p>I doubt that… I mean srsly DA isnt a cheap school. They have rather high endowment… i think</p>
<p>@Okaybabe - Very unlikely that they’d be able to deny your application. By sending you an acceptance, they’ve entered into a legal contract. Read the fine print in the contract they sent, but I doubt that “asking for more financial aid” would be grounds for rescission of the contract, particularly if you do so reasonably and respectfully.</p>
<p>Should I discuss with them myself or let my parents do it?</p>
<p>I think you should talk to the coach and see what they say first. Coach may suggest how to proceed.</p>
<p>Since your parents will be footing the bill, I think they will have to be involved, but start with the coach.</p>
<p>I have seen mentions on cc about negotiating FA. Just always keep in mind that it is a big gift from the school to you, so that you keep a good attitude. You are asking them to give you thousands of dollars.</p>
<p>This is something your parents need to do.</p>
<p>But do your homework first. Go over your PFS (parent financial statement) with a fine-toothed comb - make sure there are no errors. Look at the “family report” you got after completing the PFS - how does it compare to what Deerfield is expecting you to pay? Look for mistakes, discrepancies, anything that would explain the denial. Once you and your parents have really looked at all the numbers, then they should call the financial aid director and ask for reconsideration.</p>
<p>A question I have is, does Deerfield just not have enough in their FA budget, or perhaps do they not agree that your family “clearly” can’t pay the tuition?</p>
<p>There are some threads on cc about belt-tightening and sacrifices (say, reducing contributions to retirement accounts) that families are expected to do in place of FA.</p>
<p>Deerfield does not accept a student unless it believes that it can meet that student’s full need. So, if this family’s award was zero, the Deerfield financial aid director must have concluded that the family could afford to pay the full tuition.</p>
<p>Hence my suggestion to go back and review all financial aid documents that have been submitted, and look at the family’s expected contribution as indicated on the family report. If there’s an error, miscalculation, or discrepancy, the family needs to identify it and bring it to the attention of the financial aid director.</p>
<p>If there is no perceived “need,” no amount of pressure from the athletic coach is going to change things. This is really something the parents need to address directly with the financial aid director.</p>
<p>If I were to be accepted at another school that offered me FA, would it affect Deerfield’s decision to offer me FA?</p>
<p>Follow dodgersmom’s advice unless you’re simply trollin.</p>
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<p>No, it’s not a competition. Deerfield has apparently determined that you have no financial need. If you believe that’s a mistake, then your parents need to speak with the financial aid director and try to straighten things out.</p>
<p>Every school does calculate need differently, so it’s not unusual to get two different offers from two different schools. But it’s also possible that Deerfield made a mistake or overlooked something. Your parents should review all the financial aid paperwork they submitted, and then call the financial aid director.</p>
<p>I’m not familiar with Deerfield’s specific FA policy but several schools do accept FA kids and not offer aid, or not offer as much aid as the family needs. Deerfield’s website states that decisions regarding admission and financial aid are made independently, and to me that suggests that they may indeed occasionally accept students and then not allocate aid, or not allocate enough aid (although schools do try to avoid doing so). My DD was told by one school that awards a fairly typical amount of aid (about 30% of school) that they had 5X more qualified FA applicants than they had aid available this year. Deerfield may well recognize that you qualify for aid but simply not have enough dollars to go around. BTW our EFC was about equal to tuition (therefore no demonstrated need for aid) but one school recommended us for about 30% aid anyway. I would start with the coach. If another school offers you more aid, by all means let Deefield know this, and if Deerfield is your first choice, let them know that too. It is possible that more aid will become available if other students slotted to receive financial aid enroll elsewhere so don’t give up yet. Several schools we visited encouraged FA applicants to call the office in situations like yours. If Deerfield accepted you without aid, they won’t be put off by a discussion with your parents; they are probably expecting it. Besides, if you can’t afford to go without aid, what do you have to lose?? Congratulations and I hope it works out.</p>