<p>We made actual copies of the better financial aid offer from a competitive school and took that in person and gave it to the financial aid office at DDs number one choice school. There really is no point in being “discreet”. If you want the school to up your aid because of a competitive offer from elsewhere, you need to SHOW them that competitive offer, in my opinion. Even with that…some schools will NOT negotiate their aid offers and some will. YMMV.</p>