<p>in Post #4: " . . . to then negotiate for additional aid plays head games with students, is counterproductive, and counterintuitive… Not to mention, it turns administrators at reputable institutions into the higher education equivalent of a used car salesman."</p>
<p>“Disctretely” mention? Was real straightforward for us. </p>
<p>other schools on The Accepted List #were 5-15k net less than #1 school.</p>
<p>We (actually, wifely, who is our “Closer”) asked if School #1 could add merit aid. Turns out they have a formal financial aid re-evaluation process; we entered it, talked about the great fit of our kid with the school and asked school to help tip the decision to school #1. It worked. They were happy to close the deal.</p>
<p>Kid was fully on board, since we’d been clear that we could only go up to a certain amount of money.</p>
<p>Part of US culture includes being uncomfortable with dickering over money, which gives awesome advantages to list price sellers. </p>
<p>Bargaining is NOT a matter of manners that “puts” anyone in a social category; it’s a business interaction that recognizes mutual benefits: the college gets to fulfill their “yield” and I get to borrow less money for college :-)</p>