<p>Someone was telling me about this today and I was wondering if there is any truth to it. They said that if you're accepted to one school which offers you a lot of financial aid, but you still like another school better, you can try to talk the second school into offering you more financial aid based on how much the first gave you. Is there any truth to this? In my case, I've been offered a ton of financial aid at Northwestern but I really like Rose-Hulman... trouble is Rose costs $15,000 more per year.</p>
<p>I think part of it depends on how much the school wants you. But also it helps if you know how much is just based on specific formulas and how much the school kicks in, etc. The more you know up front about all that the better you should be able to do.</p>
<p>You can always ask for more. My parents did and Rose-Hulman threw in another $2000 per year in gift aid. Of course I decided to do Army ROTC so I'm making money to go to school, but that's beside the point.</p>
<p>The people down in the admissions and financial aid office are fairly friendly, so they'll at least entertain the idea. Plus, as time goes on you might have more of a chance as they get a better handle on who's not coming and not using scholarships.</p>