<p>Son was accepted to two selective LACs. College A is "top 10" and college B is "top 25". Total cost of attendance at each is similar (around 40k per year). He has not visited either because they are far from home and we wanted to see where he was accepted before spending money on travel, so there is no clear front runner, but the rank of College A is seductive. </p>
<p>The financial aid package of College A was very stingy, our out of pocket cost (would need to be mostly loans) would be 26k, higher than the EFC that the FAFSA predicted. My employer gives a generous tuition grant for dependents but College A used this as part of the financial aid package even though it does not cost them a dime; the grant was less than 4k. </p>
<p>College B gave a very generous package to son including 19k in grants. With the tuition benefit on top of that out out of pocket cost would be affordable and our son would need minimal if any loans.</p>
<p>Our plan is for him to visit both schools. If he really falls in love with College A over College B then we will try to appeal, but I wonder how likely it is that they would match College B's generous offer. And as I asked in the title, is it better for our son to contact the financial aid office or for us to?</p>
<p>We realize we are very lucky that our son has a generous offer from a great school, we just want to try to keep both options open. </p>
<p>I would appeal if your son likes A better than B after visiting. BTW, the difference in top 10 and top 25 is not great enough to often justify much divergent aid offers.</p>
<p>While at College A, you should speak with an aid officer. Have reasons with documentation that the aid offer should be reconsidered (including the aid award from school B). If your son likes B, then that is where he should go, given the situation as it stands now.</p>
<p>I'd say that you should try to negotiate the aid, but at the same time, know that it may not happen or not be enough to make a difference. Stay realistic about the entire situation. Start seeing school B for what good things there are about it, lest you are dissapointed.</p>
<p>That is kind of what happened to us. We visited both schools and my daughter loved A and liked B. We went together to the financial aid folks at A and they were downright rude to us (if you can't afford it you shouldn't come here) and that turned my daughter right around and she decided to go to B. BTW she loves it now at school B!</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who responded with advice and experiences. </p>
<p>Our son is going to visit school B in a few days, and we just learned that School A is going to pay to fly our son there for a visit, but not for a couple more weeks. Should we try to appeal the financial aid package now or while he is there? If we wait 2 more weeks will they use up all their resources on other students?</p>
<p>Kelly, there's no reason to delay -- why don't you just call College A and fax them the award from College B and ask if they can reconsider their award. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. No need to play games with timing. </p>
<p>rlm -- I'm letting my daughter go it alone to negotiate with the financial aid people at NYU. I think its hopeless anyway, but I was kind of thinking that an afternoon spent in the financial aid office might do a lot to sour her on the university, just as you experienced with your College A. </p>
<p>But with the other college, which gave us strong aid, I simply had a lot of questions about various contingencies - so I dealt directly with them. </p>
<p>Part of the issue as to whether student or parent should deal with the office depends on personalities and issues involved. If the financial situation is particularly complex, its probably better for the parent to step in. But in other circumstances, the kid might do a better job of it, especially if the kid feels very strongly about attending that school.</p>
<p>Well, our son wrote a nice letter to School A explaining that he could not attend without a significant increase in the financial aid package. They wrote back and increased the package, but not by much. He visits School B (which gave him a great package) this weekend/early next week. Hopefully he will love it since he would be able to graduate debt-free!</p>