As my daughter starts the decision-making process, I’m wondering if anyone has any experience or suggestions in regard to reaching out to schools about more financial aid. Do you reach out to the financial aid office, the music school itself? And any advice on what to say?
I have reached out to the financial aid office and the admissions counselors, depending upon the school.
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There is a wealth of advice here, and so what I have to tell you is really brief and basic, but might help from a beginner’s point of view.
Increasing financial aid (e.g., grants) is done through the FA office, and there is often a form or official process. You can appeal aid if there is new information not available at the time of your FAFSA and CSS^ or corrections to errors on those forms.
Pardon me if you already know the difference, but I didn’t. If you are thinking about scholarships they’re not called aid. They’re sometimes increased through the music professor (I’ve spoken with parents whose kids have done this) or through the admissions office if the scholarship is academic. This process requires the student to have a better offer from a comparable school. I’m not sure if you can go this route without another offer to use as comparison.
Speaking with the music professor is the most nebulous of these to me, and my son has only done it once so far, so I defer to parents whose kids have handled this. 
^ We’re fans of The Big Lebowski, so we say “new s$^t has come to light”.
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You can ask for more merit even without another offer to use as comparison. Will defer to others with experience in the process as my son was lucky enough to score a full scholarship.
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We were able to get significant merit increases without disclosing other offers although we would not have hesitated to disclose that information had it been necessary. At one school we went through the studio instructor and at the other it was a joint effort through the studio instructor and the financial aid office. In both cases the studio instructor advocated on our behalf.
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Also @anotheroboemom …
If I may ask then, and to simplify ridiculously, does your kid ask the studio instructor something like “I’d like more scholarship funding because of my talent?” I assumed my son would need to make a case of some kind for increasing what he’s been offered, like showing a better offer.
I think he says that he would love to attend but can’t currently afford to do so and would there be any possibility of additional merit money/scholarships available.
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Daughter heard from Curtis today, it was a no. Only waiting on Rice now.
Agree with @MMRose above. My advice is to think of it like a job offer. Applicant has already been offered a nice “salary”. They love the job and really want to be part of the new company, but need just a bit more to make it work.
I do not advise that you think of it like you are buying a car. This would be saying that if you don’t match this price you are going to the dealer down the street.
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He should say that he feels that he is a good fit for his studio, that he believes that he responds well to his teaching style and feels he would thrive there. State that without additional funding he would be unable to accept the offer of admission. Then ask if there is any possibility of securing additional merit /scholarship money.
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And I would advise waiting until he has all of his financial aid packages. Even if you have to wait until early April, the colleges will move quickly on an appeal (we always heard back within hours or days) and then you will have all the information in front of you before going down that path.
YMMV and other may of course feel differently.
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Editing to add to wait because if he tells a school that he would really love to attend if he received more funding, it is often best to tell that just to his top school and to promise to commit if the additional funding comes through. He can do that more honestly once he has all his offers and a better idea which school is actually his top choice.
And remember, even though this is new to you, the colleges deal with this with many students each year. They understand the need to respond quickly so that students can make their final choice by May 1. Once a student is accepted, the colleges want them to say yes --if for no other reason than it helps their stats, so if they can make it easier for the student to say yes, they are motivated to do so!
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Following this advice.
100% agree- our S22 only asked for more $ in the form of merit/scholarship to the school he was ready to commit to, and used that in his communication with them.
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And that is absolutely not what he feels! Every dollar will matter for us, but he would not want to make any ultimatums about not attending if he doesn’t get more.
Like @MMRose says, we will wait until he has all his offers and his top choice or two and then may ask him to make this approach.
But with one exception. He did already have this kind of conversation with one professor. It may have been premature, but we had to know if it would ever come down to a feasible price, or whether we should take it off the table. I think the conversation was a helpful step in the process for my son. (I think so. I’m not sure how it felt for him, but I think he made some decisions.) Now, we will wait for all the others before making any further contacts.
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We didn’t wait until we had all of the offers. We are actually still waiting for a few schools. We were honest and let each school know that we were negotiating with a few best fit schools. We were advised to chase the money now while schools still had funds available. If you wait you might miss out. We made no promises and were honest that ultimately we would make the decision that was in my sons best interest.
We have already declined a significant offer and received a lovely letter from the studio instructor stating that this happens every year, it’s the nature of the admissions process, and he hopes to work with my son sometime in the future.
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I like this way of putting it, and now that you say this, it makes me start to change my mind. Honestly, it makes more sense to know the answer sooner, so we can make an informed choice. It would be nice to have the real full offer on the table to compare with others. Maybe my kid should talk to his current top choice school, being clear that he is considering a few other schools. 
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That’s why this forum is so great! Everyone has a different perspective and history – and then the OP can see what feels like the best path forward for them!
@BeverlyWest
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Agreed! It is so great. I am forever grateful that I stumbled in here, and that everyone here is so helpful without saying there’s only one right way to do things.
Ugh, we are STILL waiting for some info over here but kiddo just got a pretty amazing financial offer from DePaul SOM and I have to share somewhere. 
Congrats for the continued good news everyone, and kid got a decline this weekend too so we get it! Onward and upward!
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