<p>Is it true that you can show an institution an offer from another institution and they will match the offer?</p>
<p>No. (10char)</p>
<p>^Not entirely true, pontiac. This happens at some schools, typically privates. I’m inclined to believe, however, that it wouldn’t be an effective strategy at UMich as a public for an OOS student. </p>
<p>Trev, you can try. You should know that some schools frown on this ethically as you are disclosing private “competitor” information. You may want to call Fin Aid, give them your ID, and say something along the line of “With no disrespect intended, I was very excited to get into UMich as it was my first choice, but am now having a great deal of difficulty over financing it compared to my other offers. Is there any possibility for a review, and if so, is it proper/appropriate to show you my other offers?” (And then if they say no to the later, then don’t.</p>
<p>Also note that comparative offers should be from equally prestigious/caliber schools – it won’t mean anything, for example, to show an offer to a school that is not roughly equal in caliber.</p>
<p>I tried talking to Michigan about my offer from Wayne State (full tuition/books/boarding/labtop/study abroad).
I got scoffed at because you can’t compare merit aid apparently.</p>
<p>Well comparing aid is mostly about need-based when your original offer doesn’t cover your EFC. It makes sense that they wouldn’t compare merit-based, as you could reasonably expect to have a much better chance at merit scholarships from Wayne State than Michigan.</p>
<p>Hello. I’m a first time poster, but I’ve been following this forum for the past couple of months. I was accepted back in early March with a pretty decent financial aid offer. My EFC is around 3000 and I was offered about $33k by Michigan (in grants/work study/federal loans, no scholarships). I am OOS, so assuming that the cost of attendance is more or less $48k, I would have approximately $15k to pay out of my own pockets. Considering that Michigan isn’t known to give generous aid, I was initially extremely happy with the amount of money that was offered.</p>
<p>However, I was also accepted to USC back in March and recently received my financial aid offer. The cost of attendance would be approximately $58k and I have been offered $52k (once again, just grants/work study/federal loans), leaving me just $6k to pay on my own.</p>
<p>Although I would have to pay less to go to USC, I still feel like Michigan is the better place for me. However, money definitely is an issue for me (as small as $9k in difference might seem to some people). So, relating back to the OP’s question, has anyone actually received more financial aid from Michigan by notifying them of a better offer given by another school? In my case, would it be a feasible idea to contact the financial aid office about USC’s offer? There wouldn’t be any harm in asking, right? lol, I don’t want to say anything if money from the initial $33k offer will be taken away.</p>
<p>I’m sorry if I’m coming across as ungrateful. I feel extremely fortunate for the fact that I’ve even been accepted to such a prestigious school as UMich. I just want to try to lessen the burden on my family for paying for college in any way that I can.</p>
<p>Back2basics, yours is a case when you might respectfully explain exactly as you have above your situation to Mich’s finaid folks (and almost exactly how you explained it to us – b/c USC is private and a “meet need” school, Michigan might not be able to make a competitive offer, but to my mind they’re a lot closer to being peer schools (eg. than Wayne State – of course Michigan would not entertain to match any other in-state school).</p>
<p>$9k a year is a big difference – $36,000 difference over four year and will ADD another $420 or more A MONTH to loan paybacks. Also, the tuition goes up each year. So you are prudent to be concerned about this.
Best wishes!</p>
<p>@Kmcmom13</p>
<p>Thank you, and of course I would respectful explain my situation. My EFC is $25,000 and UMich gave me $7,000 in loans and grant, leaving me to scrabble $43,000!! That is extremely far from my EFC, which I believed to be a bit high in the first place. I think families like mine have it the worst because we make too much money to get aid, and not enough money to pay the tuition without aid.</p>
<p>@back2basics</p>
<p>Honestly, if I were you I would keep my mouth shut lol. I have never heard such generous numbers from UMich. I would just settle and if you really can not get a $15,000 loan start applying for grants/scholarships.</p>
<p>Trev, it’s true that Michigan is a particularly painful OOS fiscal proposition for families that are upper-middle class with EFCs of $25,000. I think that is in part because philosophically, your family could afford full pay at your own state flagship with that kind of EFC – ergo, you do not actually have true need in a public school sense (of course, the private ivies would treat it differently). However, if your parents’ EFC is $25k and UMich is lending/granting you $7000, they’ve actually only gapped you by about $16k – the same they’ve actually gapped back2basics.</p>
<p>When you consider that with your family earnings you could actually afford a payback on $16k per year (in theory) and that back2basics could not at an EFC of $3k, you’ve actually both been treated equally in a sense, but the difference is, back2basic’s family is unlikely to be able to actually in the real world FINANCE the differential.</p>
<p>So generosity aside, practical matters have to reign in these situations. You can each at least ask for a review. Back2basics can completely make the case that financing the gap is near impossible for his family just based on their AGI, I suspect.
Best wishes to you both.</p>
<p>Thank you, kmcmom13 and TrevTumm, for the information and input. I’ve been completely torn between the two schools. Every time I feel absolutely set on UMich, the thought of USC’s offer keeps creeping into the back of my mind. I think I’ll send a message to the financial aid office and just hope for the best. Once again, thank you both!</p>
<p>You’re welcome. Here are a couple of other things to look into/consider in your evaluation. There is almost a $10,000 difference in the COAs between USC and UMich – meaning if things changed in your family (someone had a new job, inherited money, etc.) then USC would possibly be the more expensive school. So it’s good to keep that in the back of your mind.</p>
<p>Another possible differential is the actual cost of living in each area. It is possible to live for less than what the school calculates as a COA. Eg. triple room instead of double in a dorm; looking at CoOp rooms in second year and beyond; sharing a northwood apartment (2 to a 2 br is cheap) without full meal plan and making your own meals, etc. So if you use the housing sites of each school you might be able to get an idea of places you can cut corners.</p>
<p>Another thing to compare is how much payback and work will you actually have with each school – even if they’re fed subsidized loans (usually a student gets both to $5500) they still are non-dischargable in bankruptcy – so you need to add ALL the loans you’d need to pay back together to determine whether or not it’s in your interest to take on that kind of debt load.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you for your input! I just have to make a smart choice. Whether I go to UMich or Penn State I will be paying over $100,000 for my degree.</p>
<p>@Back2Basics My first choice is UMich as well and I learned something you might want to consider. UMich has a retention rate of 96% after the first year. Based off of a 40,000 undergrad population, they lose about 1600 students. Therefore they are strict with the giveaways (grants, scholarships, etc). However, once one establishes the caliber of student they are, such as having a certain GPA, UMich becomes more generous with money. Also, keep in mind what your major/career is. I am hoping to major in civil engineering and have a starting salary at about $60,000. That is something I think about to stay positive and lean towards UMich.</p>