When it comes to negotiating transfer fin aid, is it even possible? I’ve seen a few threads for freshman FA but I imagine it’s different. Let’s say, for example, I get into Seattle U with a 16k merit scholarship (waiting for my package from them) but Bryant with a 20k merit scholarship. Seattle U tuition is around $1,000/year more expensive. So all else equal, Bryant is more affordable by about 5k per year. I know that merit scholarships are given in tiers so it’s unlikely to get a school to increase merit aid - but could I take the overall CoA from one school and show it to the other school to see if they would give me a little bit in need-based aid? To make the difference smaller?
When you look at school costs, make sure to take into consideration cost of living.
@philbegas I think you basically lose your initial award. The $20K from Bryant will be hard to get back if you decline now. They talk about transfer aid on the website but I am not really a believer of it. Schools basically are paying for your stats from the get go. USNWR uses incoming freshman stats to rank schools. Transfers are not counted. It is really not beneficial for them to offer you much aid since it would not benefit them as much. You got the $20K because your a strong candidate.
We are in the same boat. We are encouraging our son to take the most money school first and give that a shot. You can always end up at the cheaper school (like public flagship) if the first one does not work out. It is not a two way street. I do not think the same opportunity will be there if he lets this freshman package pass. JMHO.
Of course, and Providence is more affordable than Seattle for sure. But that wouldn’t really play into negotiating financial aid, that’s why I didn’t mention it.
@MassDaD68 what exactly do you mean? I’m not giving up the Bryant scholarship by any means - I was just wondering how to utilize it if/when negotiating financial aid. If the response deadline came up and nothing conclusive had changed - I’d take the cheaper option for sure.
@philbegas Sorry. me bad. I guess I got confused and misunderstood. Your right.
No worries @MassDaD68 best of luck to you and your kids’ decision.
You can try. The schools in question should be your #1 and #2 choices. Asking #1 to match the aid of a #4, that you wouldn’t attend for other reasons, is unethical IMO. The more you can convince #1 that you’d definitely attend if their aid improved – with specific names and numbers – the better your odds. I don’t like your chances, but what’s the harm?
Wait for all of your results.
Gotcha. @Dunboyne And also they need to be somewhat peer institutions. I definitely understand my chances are low. I’m just collecting all information I can because it’s really going to be crunch time in a month. Some of my decisions will only come in DAYS before my responses are due to other schools. Transferring is so complicated - I wish I did better in high school hahaha.
Here’s a new idea…also, forgive me, I haven’t read your entire thread.
- Decide where you want to live based on where your girlfriend goes to school.
- Seek full time employment in that city in a finance related career with a company that has a policy of paying for employees to go to college.
- Have money to contribute to your living arrangements, gain valuable finance experience, earn a college education.
- Reap these benefits… Discover if you want to pursue finance/business. Discover if you and your girlfriend are meant to be. Don’t burden your parents or yourself with tuition.
I’m tired of working entry level jobs for people with no education. I’m determined to go to college and the idea of being 20-30k in debt IF NECESSARY does not scare me. There’s opportunity cost when giving up going to college for more years and it’s an opportunity cost I do not want to have.
Hey guys - I have a question. Drexel co-op doesn’t necessarily guarantee that I’d get a high-paying co op. There’s stipulations such as class pre-reqs and GPA requirements (shouldn’t be a problem for me to meet them) but do you think there’s a way to negotiate with Drexel regarding that point? I know people negotiate for colleges to meet other college’s FA packages, but what about negotiating guaranteed co-op income?
For example:
-I will commit to Drexel if Drexel can guarantee me the average co-op income for Finance majors. I will agree to meet certain stipulations such as a minimum GPA and full time enrollment, and if offered a paid co op I will take it. But if Drexel’s co-op center is unable to place me in a paid co op, Drexel will give me a grant for how much I should have been able to make?
Has anybody heard of this sort of thing being done? I’ve read through threads about negotiating financial aid but have never seen anything like that.
I feel like a FA department should prefer this to simply giving free money. Drexel/Lebow like to tout the high percentage of eligible students that receive co ops, so if I can meet a minimum agreed upon conditions, I’m sure that there would be a very high chance that I would receive a paid co op anyways. I have a decent resume already anyways.
This seems…presumptuous. They don’t owe you a certain income that you get to determine. No internship/coop does.
I mean at the end of the day it’s a negotiation so they can always say no. But Drexel charges quite a lot for tuition, more than academically comparable institutions, and I feel like a portion of that is because of their co op program.
In any case, I’m not trying to say that I ‘deserve’ it or anything, just wondering if people think it’s even worth trying to mention. Their co-op placement rates are high enough that if I’m the one taking a gamble I should be getting a good one anyways. I’ve been emailing back and forth with a person from their career placement center to make sure I have the full picture of my chances at a co op.
But THEY don’t give you the internship. They provide you access to the career center and if you’re lucky an outside company chooses you. Drexel is just the go-between. They have no control over who gets internships whatsoever and can’t promise you anything.
I have worked on wall street for many years.
Getting a high paid job out of the gate means coming from expensive name private schools.
Anything short of the big name schools is not worth spending a great deal of money in this profession.
Go to a public school if you can get into their business school, and get a lower paying job to prove yourself.
With experience, you’ll have less of a problem getting ahead and catching up financially to those who
had debt from big name schools.
What @MYOS1634 said. And even if Drexel was in the driver’s seat re co-op income…
It’s not a job/salary negotiation where salary is a critical factor in whether you’d accept the job (a deal-breaker). Is co-op income the only reason you’d turn down Drexel? I doubt it. If they told you to go take a hike, would you actually go take a hike, or would you enroll anyway? You would probably enroll anyway because of the school, location, program, odds of actually earning a good co-op income based on stats, a dozen other factors. They aren’t denying you a good co-op income, after all, so you’d be in a horrible bargaining position.
This is different than negotiating FA. For many students, a FA package truly is a deal-breaker, and the school knows it, so in select cases the school will sweeten the pot.
You guys are right, I was just curious if this was something people did - but it seems like a resounding no!