My son is eager to accept his admissions offer to his first choice school. However, we are currently appealing the financial aid offer. If we go ahead and put down the deposit and accept the offer, will this have a negative effect on our financial aid appeal?
Yes. If you needed the aid to attend the school, then you’d not be accepting the offer until you knew the outcome of the appeal. It sounds like a gratuitous, “let’s just see if we can get more” appeal.
What’s the rush? They’re not going to give away his spot.
Never commit to anything you can’t afford. It never ends well.
Just say that you win the appeal and more aid is granted for freshman year. My fear in these situations is what will sophomore years aid look like. Suppose you don’t win an appeal next year. I have to say that DD20 did get some offers that really made me a little nervous because it appeared that she was being offered much more aid than we believe that we qualify for. If they did not match it for future years we’d be in trouble and would either have to take out loans or transfer her.
In a case like this, you have to get it in writing that the award will be the same in subsequent years if your financial circumstances remain materially the same.