<p>My D goes to a highly competitive HS that usually sends a dozen students or more to the Ivy League and several more to comparable schools. This year acceptances were way, way down. D's school has experienced the same issues resounding on this board of low acceptance rates and reliance on the waitlist. They have also experienced very minimal financial aid and the idea that you should be "honored" to have been accepted at all.</p>
<p>IMO the simple truth is schools are lowballing many of you. They understand that applications are up and they can try to demand that you pay full fare or something close, and you will pay on the idea that you are just glad to be accepted somewhere. Endowments and scholarships are preserved for leaner times.</p>
<p>My simple advice: you will need to drive a hard bargain with the schools if you want to get reasonable aid. If you get taken off a waitlist, I would consider the desperate circumstances of the college to fill out a class, not just your own desparation to get in.</p>
<p>Just my thoughts on observing. Feel free to refute.</p>
<p>Actually, a lot of non HYP schools have very real budget issues and have to balance financial aid $$ against all other expenses. I don’t think schools have any interest in accepting talented kids only to have them go elsewhere due to $$$. A lot of kids decide to apply to schools based on the school’s track record for giving aid.</p>
<p>“If you get taken off a waitlist, I would consider the desperate circumstances of the college to fill out a class, not just your own desparation to get in.”</p>
<p>What makes you think that a college would be “desparate” to get a particular person off their waiting lists. These lists are typically quite long, and if you don’t want their offer, they’ll just go to the next person.</p>
<p>You also cannot negotiate for what colleges don’t have. By the time they’ve gotten to the waitlist (if they get to the waitlist), they may have already exhausted their financial aid budget. Many schools, even those that are originally “need-blind”, become need-aware when they get to the waitlist; they cannot afford to do otherwise.</p>
<p>The simple fact of the matter is that college expenses are inelastic - they do not respond to the laws of supply and demand. If anything proved it, it’s this year’s application pool. Colleges raise their tuition, room & board, and guess what? They can still fill their class.</p>
<p>To echo Chedva, at all schools the common dataset shows how many students are offered a WL spot, how many accept a WL spot, and how many are taken from the WL. Based on the numbers I’ve seen the schools are hardly desperate for WL candidates. </p>
<p>Unfortunately at some schools financial need may make it less likely for a student to be taken off the waiting list. Consider two equal candidates, one requiring no FinAid, the other with $25K of need. Which one is more likely to be offered admission? Still, if you are fortunate enough to get tapped from the WL, it never hurts to ask for more is the FA is low. The school knows you have at least one other option the is acceptable to you. You won’t be given very long to decide though.</p>
<p>And remember FA officers are people too; they might get frustrated with a kid who appeals with the attitude that there is some “game” being played with financial aid packages. An appeal should really focus on aspects of the applicant’s financial situation that the college may have not taken into consideration, not speculation that the college has a secret FA surplus.</p>
<p>At many schools- they seem to have waitlists as a " you are equally as talented as those we accepted so we didn’t want to reject you".</p>
<p>The waitlists don’t move- or perhaps 3% are admitted off wait list.
Students have the " they put me on wait list so they are even more attractive" mind set, and get stuck thinking they will attend, instead of moving on to their real choices.</p>
<p>Money, is not only restricted or gone, by the time the wait list moves, but transfer students often don’t recieve much/any either.</p>
<p>Schools are usually not need blind- and they don’t have unlimited pockets. They do reassess need, but only with hard data. Some schools may find a merit award for special cases, but that merit award may only be for freshman year, bringing the 4 year total much higher than the student can stomach.</p>
<p>A school that relies on much more than grades and scores, met 100% of my daughters need with very small subsidized loans, work study and grants. I also completed finaid the first week of January.
Students @ same school, who filed finaid later, with better scores, received a less attractive package.</p>
<p>Many schools have ED, and while common wisdom is that your aid package is non negotiable for ED, some schools also if they accept you, they want you to be able to attend, so they offer ED students the best packages along with returning students.</p>
<p>No, everything I have ever heard regarding waitlists, is to expect to foot the bill yourself that year.</p>
<p>My daughter is on a waitlist. When she got her email - I told her “don’t do it!” . You NEED financial aid. You cannot go without a financial aid package.
This school is a need blind school but doesn’t meet 100% of need.</p>
<p>I made an assumption that many of you are making - that there would not be any money left etc.
So I called financial aid. I spoke with a financial aid counselor who then spoke with the director (I had not filed the profile as this was her only profile school) - the word I got was that they save a pool of money for those kids they take off the waitlist and work very hard to get them the same financial aid package they would get as if they were admitted on March 15th (RD date). She said “We just need to get her admitted, then we will put together a financial aid package”
She also said it was not too late for me to file the profile.</p>
<p>Now - do I believe it? I have no reason not to. I guess we will find out if she is ever offered admission - which is undoubtedly a long shot.</p>
<p>As far as Dad1990 goes - it never hurts to ask! They won’t rescind your admission for asking.</p>