<p>My son was admitted oos to u mich ea and was recently admitted to the honors and residential college programs. He also has a $25k merit scholarship from tulane ea. We won't qualify for need-based aid.</p>
<p>It seems to me if I don't say anything to u mich, he probably won't get merit aid. Does it make sense to proactively contact the fin aid office, let them know we're considering the tulane scholarship and see if there's anything they can do? If so, should I wait until he has his RD decisions and is certain u mich is his first choice?</p>
<p>You can try. If UMich doesn’t consider Tulane a peer school it probably won’t do any good. But it’s only a 30 min conversation so it’s probably worth the effort. I would probably wait until all the decisions are in though. It would be more meaningful if you could say UMich is his #1 choice and if you could sweeten the deal…</p>
<p>we’re on the same page, if a 30 minute conversation resulted in even a small award, it would be time well spent. I suspect he’ll end up at u mich. and would like to send in a deposit to secure his spot in the residential college but I’m concerned it would undermine any merit award conversation…and who know, he may get an upside surprise at his reaches.</p>
<p>Hi, qd. Do wait to contact U Mich Financial Aid Office until you have all your financial aid offers in hand. Then you may have leverage if, as Erin’s Dad mentions, you have at least a ‘peer’ institution. </p>
<p>But even if you don’t, it’s still worth asking the question, is there anything we can do to qualify for merit aid? I’ve heard of schools that will allow the student to re-take the SAT, and may award merit dollars if the student meets the threshold when they re-take. So it’s always worthwhile to ask, especially an open-ended question, as you just don’t know what they might say! As merit aid is an admissions office decision, it would be helpful to ask now. Maybe your student was within a few points of a cut-off?</p>
<p>It doesn’t hurt to try but OOS publics are looking for full-pay OOS students to help subsidize in-state students who are a public’s main priority. UMich doesn’t really need to try very hard to attract top students. Asking for more between two peer privates may work but with one being a public, it’s a lot less likely to result in anything. You have to weigh the odds of getting anything vs. the risk of losing the residential college if you wait.</p>
<p>We had to make a similar decision for our in-state university, qd. Do we apply for housing now, or wait until merit scholarships/financial aid packages are decided? It is hard to get housing, and some of the worst housing is terrible. </p>
<p>Our reasoning went like this: since it is a large university, with a reputation for the right hand not knowing what the left is doing, we think it unlikely that the housing office will be in touch with admissions. Most merit is probably already decided by now or is in process, based on what the school has shared about their time table, so there appears to be little risk. For us, there was no deposit required for housing app, so nothing lost monetarily. If a deposit had been required, I still would have done it, as I don’t want D winding up in a tiny triple or quad room.</p>
<p>Thanks all for the advice. Is it accepted practice to remit a deposit if he may go to another school or are we supposed to wait until he’s made his choice? I’m not concerned with losing the deposit as its probable he’ll attend.</p>
<p>Check the individual school policy. We find that some require a small non-refundable deposit to enable housing application, $25 or so. At others you need to submit the initial enrollment deposit of several hundred, but usually all but $25 of it is refundable if you change your mind before 5/1. Not sure about Michigan as D hasn’t done anything about housing there yet.</p>
<p>The school’s website will have terms and conditions listed. Just check and see what the cancellation policy is, and do remember to notify them if your son changes his mind. Sometimes you can get your deposit back if you notify the school by a certain date. Every school is different, and I don’t have the experience to know what is commonly done. From hanging out at some of the college threads here, you might get some idea of what other CC parents/students have done.</p>