Can I bargain for more financial aid?

<p>So I got accepted to Cornell's Hotel School back in March. It was my first choice and I was shocked that I got in, and even more surprised that they let me know early. I was almost certain that I was going to attend. Now, I saw my FA package and its not very good. They are giving me 9000 and expect my family to pay for the rest. I really thought that I was going to get more money. My parents make good money, but not enough that they can pay what Cornell thinks we can. We're calling tomorrow to see what they can do for us. Are they going to be willing to negotiate or are they going to just say it is what it is? Also, NYU is giving me 22,000. If i tell them this, will they try to match what NYU is giving me if they really want me to attend? Thanks</p>

<p>The Cornell University Office of Financial Aid and Student Employment has an official appeal process, which has been outlined below:</p>

<p>· There is an appeal application form to be completed by the parent or student, in order to make the process easier and more efficient. The form is available for download on the Financial Aid and Student Employment website (<a href=“http://www.finaid.cornell.edu%5B/url%5D”>www.finaid.cornell.edu</a>). Receipt of all appeals will be acknowledged via email (or postcard if the email address is unavailable) within 24-48 hours of receipt.</p>

<p>· Families should describe in detail any circumstances that have a bearing on the appeal, such as changes in income or unusual expenses, providing necessary supporting documentation with specific dollar amounts where applicable.</p>

<p>· A copy of the family’s 2009 Federal Income Tax Return(s) should be on file in the Office of Financial Aid and Student Employment. This information is typically required for appeal evaluation.</p>

<p>· ** If a student has financial aid award letters from peer institutions, the student may forward copies of those letters to the office for award matching consideration.**</p>

<p>Good luck to you!!</p>

<p>Yea i know about the appeal. But I just don’t think its going to help. Nothing has changed since when i applied for FA. All they see is that my parents makes good money and that we should have no problem paying. Is it possible to try and work it out with the financial aid office over the phone?</p>

<p>NYU is known to be the stingy FA school and if they are are willing to give 22k, I think cornell should have given u more just bc they are more generous. At least that’s how i feel</p>

<p>Thats how i feel also. I think that NYUs offer is going be to my best strategy for bargaining with them.</p>

<p>unless Cornell made some kind of mistake. Perhaps your best bet is to call Financial Aid and ask them. Since you aren’t really giving much in the way of numbers it is hard for anyone to say what you should have gotten.</p>

<p>Cornell also takes assets into consideration as well as income.</p>

<p>I seem to recall somewhere on the cornell website that said they absolutely do not “bargain” for financial aid. But I don’t recall where it is.</p>

<p>I do know that my D’s final award was drastically different than the initial award after I called and talked to them and made sure they were working with the right numbers.</p>

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<p>I assume NYU gave you merit aid. Cornell will not bargain with any merit aid enticements.</p>

<p>Yeah, if it’s merit, you won’t be able to use it.</p>

<p>Try it anyway, doesn’t hurt you in any way to send them a copy of NYU’s financial aid award.</p>

<p>what nyu program did you manage?</p>

<p>steinhardt for food studies. Its a great program and NYU is a great school, I just liked Cornell so much more. Its gonna be really tough to choose.</p>

<p>in this economy…u follow the money…</p>

<p>cornell has never been too generous towards people with 100-120k+ income. cornell is underpaying me about 10-15k than i can afford. i am taking out a 20k a year loan to cover expenses (on my behalf). but yea, there are ways to ask for more, but you will probably not have much success, and by that i mean they will either decline your request for more aid, or they will offer just a small ammount.</p>

<p>I tried appealing for more aid but I’d still have to pay 10,000 a year =/ but I’ve received far more better aid offers than Cornell’s, hope something works out. But Cornell’s financial aid has been more generous than NYU’s, in my case.</p>

<p>I think everyone should definitely make an appeal if they have legitimate reasons.
The year I appealed, I didn’t quite get it down to what I wanted, but at least I saved several hundred dollars. By legitimate, I mean things like siblings that don’t have FA in other colleges and medical expenses I didn’t mention.</p>

<p>I was thinking about reporting the above post, but I actually think it holds some interesting thought to consider.</p>