Colleges matching scholarships

Paying for College
1

<p>Hey everybody!</p>

<p>I have applied to three colleges that I want to attend and was accepted to all three. I have just received the financial aid package from one of these colleges and received about 34,000 worth of aid. However, that still leaves a 12k gap that I can not come up with. From another college I am considering, I received a 6k scholarship per year for academic achievement. However, I would rather go to the school that I received that financial aid package from.</p>

<p>I have heard from multiple people that some schools match scholarships from other colleges to lure you to them. Now, I know that this sounds inherently shady and I don't want this request to get my acceptance revoked. I don't know if anyone else here has any experience with this or if people just think it's a flat out bad idea. I know that I qualify for the college's scholarship, I just didn't receive it for some reason. The college I received the aid package from is Clarkson BTW. Thank you for any help!</p>

2

<p>Your acceptance will NOT be revoked if you ask for some more consideration. The worse that can happen is that they will say that they can’t do anything more for you.</p>

<p>To be successful, there are a few aspects to consider…</p>

<p>1) are your stats in about the upper 10% of the school?</p>

<p>2) is the better scholarship/FA from a similarly ranked or higher ranked school?</p>

<p>3) are you from a desirable part of the country? (where they don’t get many students)</p>

<p>4) are you a URM? (under-represented minority, such as African-American, American Indian, and sometimes Hispanic (for schools that have fewish Hispanics). Asians usually are not considered to be URMs.</p>

<p>Some/all of the above make an applicant more desirable for a school.</p>

<p>When you contact the school, do not use words like “match.” Simply state that X is your favorite school and you want to attend, but the current FA package isn’t affordable. You can mention that your parents are pressuring you to accept school Y, because their FA package is better. (Scan the better FA package into your computer and attach it to the email communication.)</p>

<p>Send the email to the Director of FA and the Director of Admissions.</p>

<p>Be polite. Thank them for the current offer. </p>

<p>Include your stats, your address, your college ID number (If you’ve been given one), and any pertinent info. </p>

<p>Thank them for their time and attention to your concern. </p>

<p>Others can offer more advice. :)</p>

3

<p>

</p>

<p>I’m a little confused by your post, it looks like you’re mixing up apples and oranges. I read it as school 1 gave you 34k in need based FA and school 2 gave you 6k in a merit scholarship. Schools will sometimes match a peer or higher school’s FA package, but they are unlikely to match a merit scholarship.</p>

4

<p>^^^</p>

<p>It depends on the school. I recently helped a family get their merit scholarship from one “peer school” matched (actually exceeded) at another peer school. A scanned in copy of the scholarship was attached to the request for review.</p>

5

<p>Schools that only give need based FA do not care what you have gotten from another school in merit money. I agree with entomom, tha you are mixing apples and organges.</p>

<p>If you are comparing 2 similar or peer schools that only give need based FA, your best bet would be to ask for a financial review. some school will also request that you send the Fa package from the peer school.</p>

<p>Getting matchin merit money can be harder because each school determines what is “worth” paying for. Schools that give merit and clearly state their requirements for receiving merit at their school may not be amenable to changing their merit $$.</p>

<p>For example
College A gives you 5000 for 3.7 gpa and a 1200 SAT score
College B gives you 10,000 for a 3.7 and a 1200 SAT score , </p>

<p>College A may be unlikely to meet college B’s package especially if College A states you must have a 3.7 and a 1350 to get $10,000 from their school.</p>

6

<p>*
College A may be unlikely to meet college B’s package especially if College A states you must have a 3.7 and a 1350 to get $10,000 from their school.*</p>

<p>True…very true…some schools won’t bend their scholarship guidelines…but in the case that I helped with, the student didn’t have the stats to get the bigger merit from her fav school (her stats only got $3500/yr), but after showing what a similar school gave her in merit, her fav school gave her the next level scholarship (which is about $13.5k per year.) She’s from a desired state, so the school obviously felt that that was beneficial for the school. </p>

<p>I know that nothing’s guaranteed, and the chance for getting more may only be 25%…but why not try if there’s no way you can go there? Otherwise, you have to just decline the school…but what if the school really wants you?</p>