<p>My D didn't receive much merit $$, and we don't qualify for any need based financial aid. I wonder if someone could provide us with some advice about how to negotiate a higher amount of merit aid? thanks a lot.</p>
<p>I know you call the admissions office not the FA office. My luck with this was interesting; D got into one school with no merit aid but it seemed a whole lot of kids with scores below hers were getting merit aid. She called a few months ago to make SURE there wasn’t a mistake; admissions lady was kinda rude…anyway, this school has been relentless about sending her emails and snail mail to entice her to come. A few weeks ago we got a phone call from the admissions office which I answered and said Little Muffy would love to come BUT why does she have to pay full price when the kids with lower scores are getting scholarships? So the caller, probably a student, stammered that she would ask. Then the emails and snail mail stopped. I have no idea what that was all about but fortunately Little Muffy has other choices. Hope you have better luck!!!</p>
<p>Of course! Just do it respectfully.</p>
<p>That said, I found it easier to lay the merit $$ groundwork before the letter arrived. Let us know how your efforts turn out.</p>
<p>If you have a better offer from a similar institution, ask finaid to look at matching other offer. I was told directly by admissions of school offering less merit $$ that they would match higher offer if S wanted to attend. Did not have to follow through, as S decided on school w/higher merit $$ anyway. But it can’t hurt to ask.</p>
<p>Muffy, wow, interesting story. how did you know that others with lower scores were getting merid aid?
So I should contact the FA and ask them how and if D could get higher merit $$ ? should I do some numbers, research, etc., before calling them? Thank a bunch.</p>
<p>I don’t think research would help as colleges that don’t have specific measures for granting merit scholarships are not claiming they are numbers based.</p>
<p>Colleges use merit money as an enrollment management tool, meaning they often are less based on pure merit than on how badly they want the student and how much they think it will take to enroll them. The professionals known as enrollment managers have this down to a science.</p>
<p>I believe all you can really do is have the student call or email their regional rep saying how much she would like to attend if the school could make it more affordable. Then if they are open to hearing what peer schools offered, show them.</p>
<p>I believe admissions, not financial aid office is the place to call for more merit.</p>
<p>How we knew: just kids and parents talking…for example, these were the same kids that were denied at other schools D got into. And D’s GPA/SAT fit their posted online criteria for merit aid so it was weird when the acceptance letter came without it. It wasn’t her first choice of the schools she got into or we would have really pushed.</p>
<p>hmom5, if I understand correctly, you’re saying that merit aid is based on how much the college wants the students but not so much on stats?
Is there a way to know how interest the college has on my D?
So my D is the one who should be calling to make it more credible.
Thanks for the comments.</p>
<p>Highly unusual for a school to change a merit award. Such awards are usually decided by admissions or special merit scholarship committees. In a very rare instance they may consider a similair or larger from a higher rated school, but all in all don’t count on it. A school usually has a specific reason for awarding a particular merit award. Yes, a lot does depend on how much a school wants a particular student.</p>
<p>My son was able to get a little more by taking the ACT again. They told us upfront what each point was worth. Then, at the end of his senior year, his GPA had increased, too, and they gave us money for that. All of this was after his acceptance.</p>
<p>The amount they award a student usually speaks to their desire to enroll the student. Who knows what enrollment managers really do? Do the figure out where else the student is likely to get in and how much those schools are likely to offer? Are they guessing that you’ll enroll your kid with what they offered because most in your zip code historically have?</p>
<p>And we have reason to believe those outside of the top schools may well be more willing to play let’s make a deal this year if you can pay most. The rules are changing so all bets are off:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/31/education/31college.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/31/education/31college.html</a></p>
<p>As The Mom said, if a school considers itself on an equal level with a school from which you got a better merit offer, they will usually reconsider their offer. It typically requires a written letter requesting reconsideration and copies of the competing offer. However, I recall another poster having good luck by stopping into the admissions office (a school near their home) with their documentation. </p>
<p>I agree with the other posters-- the school you are appealing to must consider the other school (with the better offer) at <em>least</em> its equal, and they (the school you are appealing to) has gotta want you. We asked a school to reconsider their merit offer (which was a <em>lot</em> lower than the one my S ultimately took). They were very nice, but didnt budge. I am guessing they knew they couldnt/wouldnt raise their merit offer enough to make up the difference in the 2 offers, so why bother.</p>
<p>As others said, merit $$ comes from the admissions office, not the FA office. If you want need bassed aid reconsidered, speak to FA. Otherwise its the admissions office. Good luck.</p>
<p>Hmom5, interesting article, it says you are more likely to be accepted if you don’t apply for financial aid- but how do they know how much your income is & if you can afford to pay if you do not apply for financial aid??? Do they just guess based on parents occupation or per capita income in your zip code? If so, most folks would not be viewed as being able to afford all the HYP/Duke/Colby type schools.</p>
<p>Also what specifically do you say to admissions to increase merit aid? Are we not all wanting to do the same thing given that most everyone’s finances have taken a big hit lately?</p>
<p>I think this rarely works. I just tried it a few weeks ago. Wrote a very respectful letter to admissions asking for another review of my S’s file for merit aid. Mentioned other merit he has received. Got a very nice letter back saying the scholarship committee had reviewed the file again and stating detailed reasons why the school would not increase merit. We did not apply for any FA.</p>
<p>Merit aid is a poor euphemism for price cutting on an airline model. The college has “x” number of seats that they want to fill by charging each customer a price he is willing to pay. Just like with the airlines, some pay full-fare. Others get the same seat for a little discount. Others buy the seat for a huge discount. It’s called “enrollment management” and the best consultants help colleges design sophisticated computer models. For example, a very sophisticated enrollment management algorithm will take into account the likelihood of you enrolling based on the amount of contact you’ve had with the school and your geographic location. With two identical applicants, the one expressing more interest might get less of a discount price than the one the school thinks might need a little more incentive to enroll.</p>
<p>I honestly think it’s pretty tacky to ask for more merit aid. Why should a college increase the merit aid for one while not increasing the merit aid for the many other similar students?
It’s important to remember that colleges are not having a difficult time filling their seats. If one student can’t afford to attend, there are plenty of others waiting in line to fill the spot.</p>
<p>Thank heavens we are not in the political forum, as I agree with interesteddad! Others have compared it to buying a car. Some pay sticker price, some shop around and see if the dealership will match other offers. Education is expensive, very expensive, and anything that helps to make the cost manageable seems reasonable to me. The worst they can say is no.</p>
<p>last yr approached college which had awarded my s a presidential scholarship, (25K pr yr) with reality that s would love to go there but could not afford, and was awarded much higher scholarship at a comparable college. I was polite and humble…they indicated they do not look at other awards. s is at college that awarded him full ride, happy to be there and happier he didn’t incur debt.</p>
<p>It’s a business. They have plenty of other kids on waiting lists anxious for a spot to open up. Why should they give more money to one person when they can easily replace that person with a full paying student from their wait list?</p>
<p>interested dad does not have a clue. All airline passenegers look the same to an airline. All applicants certainly don’t look the same to a school. The school has very detailed info as to what each applicant offers. Each school is assembling a mosaic of a freshman class. Merit aid is used to assemble the key pieces of that mosaic. It indeed is about how well a particular candidate fits and how much a particular school wants that applicant. Used properly, merit aid is a key tool in building a freshman class that a particular school is looking to put together.</p>