<p>My D was offered some merit scholarship money from Ithaca College but it is really not enough. How would she word a letter/phone call to the financial aid/admissions office? Is either way preferable - in writing or by phone?</p>
<p>Does she have better offers from other schools? Is she a highly desirable candidate for Ithaca?</p>
<p>Will she get any FA from them?</p>
<p>I’m anticipating that my son might face a similar situation. He’s been communicating with his admissions officer via email, so I’m imagining another email to him might be appropriate. A phone call would probably be better. Both coming from my son, not me.</p>
<p>What is the merit award based on? Typically they’re based on grades, test scores and ECs. Can you point to something that’s changed since her application was originally submitted? For example, does she now have her first semester grades and can show that she’s improved and/or maintained her good GPA? If she doesn’t have her semester 1 grades, can she point to her anticipated GPA to show that it has improved? What about ECs? Has she done anything exceptional these past 4 months? Has she kept up her involvement?</p>
<p>You might have your D state that she’s very interested in Ithaca, it’s her top choice (if it is), she wants to make it work to go there. She has college savings (if she does) and her parents plan to contribute a significant amount (if you do). However, the total of family contribution plus the merit award isn’t enough to cover the cost of the college. Ask if there’s any way to have the merit award increased, and point to great stuff she’s done in the first semester.</p>
<p>I’d be interested in what others suggest as well.</p>
<p>Also…can I ask how much the award was for?</p>
<p>If it was for an amount - say $10k per year - then likely that is all that they’ll offer. Many privates routinely hand out $10k per year schollies as an incentive (some have even suggested that colleges artificially raise the tuition rates so that they can then offer the “discount,” so people think that they’re getting a “deal.” I’m not saying that’s what happened in your case, I’m just saying what sometimes happens.)</p>
<p>However, if the schollie was for a lot more - say 3/4 tuition or similar, then they probably really want your child, and you might have a better chance for more money.</p>
<p>Always keep in mind that flat scholarships (such as $10k per year, $15k per year, etc) do not increase as college costs increase. Therefore, a $15k per year scholarship that covers 1/3 of COA for 2009 costs on the website, won’t cover as much next year, or the following years as costs go up for tuition, fees, R&B)…</p>
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<p>I’d like to see something that supports the above statement. </p>
<p>In these economic times, I don’t think schools are just tossing merit money at students “as an incentive”. Either the school has a policy of awarding merit aid to a student with similar stats or they don’t. </p>
<p>Regardless of the amount the OP’s daughter received…the best communication is to tell them that Ithaca is her first choice school (if that is true) and that she really would like to attend. However, financially, at this point the school is still out of reach. Are there any additional awards this student might be eligible for…including need based aid. </p>
<p>This needs to be done by the student. Most schools won’t even discuss this with the parents. </p>
<p>Agreed that if something notable has changed since the child applied, this should be pointed out.</p>
<p>Remember, some schools will adjust financial aid and some won’t even discuss it. That is the school’s decision.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Thumper, there have many posts on CC from parents reporting this over the years. Obviously there’s no one source to point to. It’s just something that parents have commented on. Others then suggested that some private colleges have inflated their tuitions, so that they can cover these scholarships, so that parents will think that they’re getting a discount. As I wrote earlier…I’m not saying that this is the case with the OP; I don’t even know how much the merit $ was.</p>