<p>So heres my breakdown of how much aid I got at the 3 schools I got into, followed by the amount Id have to pay (estimated, depending on what you include in total cost):</p>
<p>Wash u - 20k/year in aid, leaving me with about 31k/year to pay
Rice - 2k/year in aid, leaving me with about 39k/year
JHU - 7k/year in aid, leaving me with about 44k/year</p>
<p>Is it just me, or are these numbers so very different from each other? Im actually pretty happy with Wash U's award letter, but the others seem a little short. Is it possible I ask for more, using Wash U's letter was an example of what Id need in order to go to Rice or JHU?</p>
<p>Each school uses their OWN formula to dispense institutional monies. Your award letters make that clear. They had the same information, but the schools made different judgments on what you can pay. Schools also set their own “bar” regarding the %age of need they meet. </p>
<p>You certainly can ask for a review of your financial aid award…but if nothing on the applications has changed, don’t be surprised if the school doesn’t agree to do this.</p>
<p>rick,
Since WUSTL is a peer school to Rice and JHU, there’s a chance they will match the higher offer. Mention that you got a better package and be prepared to FAX them a copy.</p>
<p>rick, you may have a better hook for WashU than for the others; every school has different needs and categories. But if not, the others might indeed improve their offers. Go for it! :)</p>
<p>Does the same situation apply in cases where we didn’t apply for financial aid? My family didn’t qualify for any aid, but I did receive a $60,000 merit scholarship from one school and a $90,000 merit scholarship from another. Unfortunately, I’d rather not choose one of those schools that gave me money. Can I send those awards to the schools I do want to go to to see if they’d give me merit money?</p>
<p>You can try but I doubt it will change unless there was a change to your application. The schools considered the strength of your app and gave you what they considered appropriate merit aid when you applied.</p>
<p>We’re seeking reconsideration of the financial aid award with one college now. First time we’ve done it, but we’ve spend considerable time reading the experiences of others who have, some successfully, some not.</p>
<p>From what I’ve learned, it really does vary from college to college, and from student to student at a particular college. Most colleges will review the need-based portion of the aid when a student submits “special circumstances” indicating that the EFC is not representative, particularly due to a recent job loss or drop in income outside the control of parents, or perhaps significant medical expenses. Sounds like they’re expecting a lot of these requests this year, and the DOE recently sent a letter to all of the finaid offices recommending that they use professional judgment where appropriate to assist families in these circumstances. And colleges can, and do, change the data points on FAFSA or Profile to recalculate the EFC, which can result in increased need and increased need-based aid.</p>
<p>So that’s one scenario. Quite different is the scenario where an applicant doesn’t claim special or changed circumstances, but instead merely advises college A of the finaid offer made by college B, and asks for review, hoping that that college A will increase the aid offer. In this scenario, there’s no adjustment in EFC, probably no change in federal aid. But colleges can use institutional funds to fill in any “gap” between full need and the initial award, and they can also use institutional funds to increase merit award. I think this is most likely if the school really wants the student (due to stats, or ethnicity, or ability), and if the competing award is from a peer college or a similar but somewhat more selective college. </p>
<p>An increase in the merit award would be most appealing to most families, since it generally continues for all four years, while the need is reevaluated each year.</p>
<p>I suspect that the ideal scenario would be where the school really wants the student, AND the student can demonstrate recently changed financial circumstances, AND the student can point to a better offer from a peer school that shares their applicant pool.</p>
<p>ErinsDad</p>
<p>What I didn’t realize, but have since learned, is that I should have filled out the FAFSA even though I wasn’t going to qualify for financial aid. I have learned that some schools don’t consider merit aid without the fafsa. Had I known that, I would have had done that. So, my appeal, so to speak, is to see if I can get merit aid by filling out the fafsa now. I realize it’s a long shot. I’ll be calling the financial aid departments of some of the schools to see if there’s any chance.</p>
<p>Yes, that would be a problem. We found with DD1 that we had to fill out FAFSA for her merit aid. Usually the financial aid office lets you know that.</p>