Or did this happen to anyone else you know? Wondering if this is uncommon. Thanks.
With a few months having passed, circling back around with this question.
Some schools have an appeal process for getting more aid. If you don’t feel that it’s enough, all you can do is ask. And yes, I have known some folks around here whose initial offer was increased. Haven’t had to appeal anything YET, but I’m definitely primed to do so. I even found a letter example on here as to how to go about doing it. If need be, it’s going out !
That’s a great point. I’m also curious about schools that have just sent an increased offer unsolicited as the May 1st deadline approaches. This could be bc aid is freed up as some students decline their offers of admission.
In a financial aid meeting at a couple of universities, we were actually TOLD that the possibility of an increased offer exists, as students decline or don’t sign up. Some college are not able to reallocate the funds for the next year. It’s a snooze/lose kinda deal. So yea… schools WILL sometimes send more aid as it becomes available.
My son received an acceptance with merit and a month later received an additional $3500 from the same school (also merit), unsolicited. It was a very nice and unexpected extra and has kept the school on his list. This was a couple of weeks ago so not close to the May 1 deadline.
That would depend on your kid’s awesomeness (in the eyes of the school) and their calculation whether money would increase the chance of attendance. They can’t afford to send out bribes to everyone, so you’ll need to show some interest to catch their attention. One way that sometimes works is “St Benificent College offered me enough to drop the COA to $this, which is as much as we can afford. Our tremendous child would love to come here but your offer is leaving a gap.”
Sometimes honors college acceptances will come with an additional scholarship.
Colleges that offer unsolicited increases in merit aid, or grant large increases in merit aid on appeal, are likely colleges that are trying to fill up their freshman class. Colleges with low acceptance rates are not likely to do that.
A few years ago Loyola New Orleans fell way short of its enrolment goal, even after admitting everyone off their waitlist. They increased merit aid to many and had to undertake the humiliating task of contacting denied students and offering them admission with “merit” aid.
Departmental scholarships can come out later in the admissions cycle.
S20 got a nice scholarship from one of our flagships at admission. A departmental scholarship showed up just recently. Another school offered some more scholarship money for study abroad. Not sure that’s a bargain today after seeing some schools put a halt to study abroad over corona virus fears.
It’s not impossible but not common to significantly increase merit scholarships. Sometimes they recalculate financial aid more favorably to match a peer school’s offer or throw in a small departmental scholarship to protect their yield. There is no harm in an appeal. What do you have to lose?
This is from a few years ago, but my husband, who thinks of himself as a great negotiator, contacted son’s top 4 choices (outside of publics) to see if they would boost merit - and couched it in the context of his winning a couple CS contests. It worked, and sorted the schools. Choice 4 did nothing, Choice 2-3 did a little, and Choice 1, which was higher ranked anyway, increased merit by almost 50%. We were definitely glad we asked, though it did add a week or two to the process in April.
Could you point me in the direction of that letter example you talked about.
We never saw this in the “initial application” period. I have heard that it might occasionally happen if you appeal.
One daughter has gotten a few modest additional merit scholarships as a result of how well she is doing in university. I did not expect this at all. This is probably rare.
If you need the money then I think that it is worth asking. Do not count on your request being successful. Most importantly always remain calm and respectful when you are talking to the school, and remember that most likely the person that you are talking to can only note what you say and someone else will need to get back to you.
My daughter just got an email from an oos public flagship we are visiting next week, offering a one year scholarship towards housing. A few others on cc got them also.
Was exciting and upped the school in our estimation - every bit helps!!
We had a little bit of luck with our first kid’s school a few years ago. It was not a substantial increase, but the department threw in a little more money and given the sticker price, every little bit was nice to get.
Yes, happened to my DS. I thought it must be a mistake. We never asked for an adjustment, we just got a letter 10 days ago, simply saying, “This is our revised to you DS”. – it was $9500 more than the original one.
We are still deciding if that is where he will go, but that was pretty cool. Been so busy, had no idea to did out WHY.
Laxmama24: Would you mind naming the school? I have heard of a school that has done that in the past. An extra $9500 is an amazing bonus though.