Financial aid-Set in Stone?

<p>Does anyone have any knowledge about whether Yale can make a financial aid offer more attractive. The one we received about killed us, while Harvard's is more in line. We would rather our S can compare the schools equally, but there is aserious gap here!</p>

<p>Dad, we heard at sessions over the summer that if you're not happy with your aid package or if another school made a better offer, to call them or go see them and they will take another look. They also said that oftentimes you can go back in the fall, in the first week or two of school, and re-visit them about it, as a lot of money that was offered to kids who ended up not coming to a school is then available. I think they'll all work with you.</p>

<p>2011 Dad--</p>

<p>Please see my other recent post at <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=319333%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=319333&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Top Yale admissions personnel have assured me that the university absolutely does not match financial aid offers with any other school--and especially with Harvard and Princeton--because this would not be an equitable application of the principles that Yale's financial aid office adheres to.</p>

<p>Nonetheless, Yale students report that, after showing competing offers from Harvard and Princeton, Yale has subsequently bolstered aid. (The Yale admissions office insists that these changes were as a result of new information that the students provided). </p>

<p>Check out these links to back up my story:
<a href="http://money.cnn.com/2007/03/21/pf/college/comparing_aid.moneymag/index.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://money.cnn.com/2007/03/21/pf/college/comparing_aid.moneymag/index.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2007/01/22/news/17154.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2007/01/22/news/17154.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>As I said, Yale will assure you that the change comes as a result of reevaluating your numbers after looking at how the other schools calculated aid.</p>

<p>If you have any questions, I encourage you to contact me at <a href="mailto:andrew@prepmag.org">andrew@prepmag.org</a>, and I especially encourage you to contact me if Yale changes your aid after seeing competing offers from other schools.</p>

<p>Check out the blogs of Harvard, Princeton and Stanford--you'll see that, thus far, there are no complaints whatsoever about finaid. At Harvard and Princeton, I only see glowing reviews.</p>

<p>Again, advice, just go to financial aid, show them the offer from another competitive school, and you will come up with a solution.</p>

<p>Harvard initially offered me $6000. Yale - nothing. I scanned and e-mailed the Harvard offer, and within 2 days Yale had offered over $5000, making the bottom line at the 3 schools within about $150 of each other. They also asked for my 2006 tax returns, though I had already sent them. After I told them they had already sent them, they found them. So it's possible my award was changed b/c of the tax return, but I'm sure the Harvard award helped!</p>