<p>This might be a dumb question but...
Has anyone ever gone back to a college after receiving merit scholarship money to ask for more? Is it wise?</p>
<p>Do a search - there are about 357 threads on this subject.</p>
<p>(Iron Maiden, I’m not sure why you would bother posting something if you weren’t going to try and help? As much as I would like to, I can’t spend ALL day on CC searching through old threads to try and find the answers that apply to my specific question.)</p>
<p>I would like to hear from someone who has gone back to a school to specifically ask for more merit money. How did you ask? Were you successful? We do not qualify for any need-based financial aid so I’m not asking about requesting more need-based aid. strictly merit. Thanks.</p>
<p>With all due respect intouch, you say you don’t have the time to find the answers so you want everyone else to take the time to respond to a question that they may have already responded to before?</p>
<p>If you need to ask for more merit money its going to take effort on your part…effort in formulating a letter or preparing what you will say in person to the Financial Aid office in support of your appeal. A good way to prepare would be to use the search function here at CC and enter “appeal more aid”, or “more merit aid”, or some other combination of words that pertains to your situation and read the responses.</p>
<p>Folks here are often very willing to help…but you also have to be able to help yourself too.</p>
<p>I posted because there were several threads asking the exact same thing over the past week. People are perfectly willing to help, but if you won’t take the 30 seconds to perform a simple search why should anyone regurgitate information that was just discussed because you won’t make an effort?</p>
<p>The only reason I posted was that by telling you to search you would get your answer immediately instead of waiting for responses to your duplicative thread that most people will not post to because the information I’d out there.</p>
<p>Wow the people over here in the “financial aid” thread are a lot more grumpy than other threads. I wonder why? I did a search and the only words the search function didn’t kick out were “merit” and “money”. It was not much help.</p>
<p>I’m not asking anyone who doesn’t have the time to answer a question they do not want to answer. We are all free here to choose to answer or not. Free will is a great thing. I am new to this thread and was a little overwhelmed with all the information. So I asked a question. What’s the harm? </p>
<p>Also, I am not asking someone to tell me what to say if/when I ask for an appeal. I’m merely wondering what their experiences were and if they were successful. Why are you going after me?</p>
<p>intouch, there is no way we would qualify for financial aid, but were encouraged by the college to submit a fafsa form. We received our merit/fin aid letter last week. Our son’s GPA/ACT is pretty low so we were expecting nothing. They offered us a $6000 scholarship and a $6000 loan (don’t want the loan). Yesterday the college called to see if we were pleased with their offer. She asked me my thoughts and I said the usual nice stuff, but then added that I would be happier if the scholarship $$ was higher. She added another $2000 to the number. I was shocked, but thrilled.</p>
<p>I was trying to figure out why this happened. Here is what I came up with.</p>
<p>1- my son answered the phone and I heard him say “yes, I really want to attend, but it is up to my dad if he wants to spend that much money”</p>
<p>2- Because his stats are not the greatest, I took a few minutes to let her know how well he was doing this semester.</p>
<p>3- We were on vacation for 2 weeks so we did not respond to the aid package immediately as she had requested in her letter. </p>
<p>4- I told her my son has been proudly wearing the college clothing that he got during admitted students day.</p>
<p>I don’t know if this helps.</p>
<p>Kajon, That’s great, congrats! My situation is a little different. My daughter’s scores/grades are high and I don’t think the schools are going to call me up and ask me if I’m happy with my daughter’s package. We would have to be the one’s initiating the conversation. Best of luck to you and your son.</p>
<p>Intouch, people are not grumpy. We are trying to help. But you have to help yourself first, especially when the question you are asking is asked repeatedly.</p>
<p>I did a search and in 15 seconds came up with:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/877689-how-should-i-word-my-letter-financial-aid-office-more-grants.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/877689-how-should-i-word-my-letter-financial-aid-office-more-grants.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/762550-review-advice-my-appeal-letter-posted-here.html?highlight=appeal+scholarship[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/762550-review-advice-my-appeal-letter-posted-here.html?highlight=appeal+scholarship</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/593517-appealing-scholarship-award.html?highlight=appeal+scholarship[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/593517-appealing-scholarship-award.html?highlight=appeal+scholarship</a></p>
<p>There are many more.</p>
<p>my son answered the phone and I heard him say “yes, I really want to attend, but it is up to my dad if he wants to spend that much money”</p>
<p>I think that statement helped, along with the statement regarding this year’s improvement. Another aspect could be (don’t know) if the student is from a desirable part of the country. Schools like to have students from each state, so they are sometimes more generous to a student who is from a desired state. </p>
<p>My daughter’s scores/grades are high and I don’t think the schools are going to call me up and ask me if I’m happy with my daughter’s package. We would have to be the one’s initiating the conversation.</p>
<p>Is she from a desired area? Does she have better merit from other similarly ranked schools? Is this URochester? How much did they offer? I see your D has an ACT 33 - that should be desirable. :)</p>
<p>Iron Maiden, Thanks for the links. Maybe I’m not being clear. </p>
<p>I have searched and most of the posts are referring to appealling need-based scholarship awards. We do not qualify for any need based aid. My daughter was awarded a merit scholarship and I am merely asking if there is anyone out there who has successfully gone back to a school to ask for more merit money. I’m not looking for ways to appeal need based scholarship decisions. I’m not looking for advice on how to word an appeal request. I’m looking for success stories, plain and simple.</p>
<p>I’m looking for success stories, plain and simple.</p>
<p>I can tell you about a family I helped.</p>
<p>One student attached a copy of a better scholarship offer from a similarly ranked school. She sent it to both the scholarship director and the director of admissions (who also oversees the enrollment management.)</p>
<p>The student is from a desired state with desirable stats. They matched the offer within 24 hours. Actually it’s a better offer because it increases as tuition increases.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, thanks for the response.</p>
<p>I’m not sure we are from a desirable area, probably not. We live in Mass. Although my daughter did get a scholarship from URochester my question was really a general one not specific to a particular school. She’s still waiting for 4 more. She received the Wilder Trustee Scholarship ($15K) from Rochester. It’s nothing to sneeze at I know. And we are very grateful for it. I’m not sure it’s even reasonable for us to be thinking about asking for more. But $50K - $15K still leaves $35K, lol. Rochester is one of her top choices. My daughter is 2nd in her class, top 2%, 4.4 wGPA, ACT 33, 2020 SAT. We’re seeing comparable awards given to other students in her school who do not have similar stats. They are applying to different schools though, so it’s really hard to compare the different merit amounts being awarded. I guess we just hoped she would get more.</p>
<p>We’re seeing comparable awards given to other students in her school who do not have similar stats. They are applying to different schools though, so it’s really hard to compare the different merit amounts being awarded.</p>
<p>That is key. If they are applying to schools that are lower ranked than URoch, then their awards could be greater for lower stats. There are schools that your D could have gotten full tuition or more. </p>
<p>If any of the other schools give your D a better scholarship and the school is similarly ranked, then perhaps URoch could be approached with an appeal.</p>
<p>great postings keep them coming because most of the others have to do with appealing financial aid awards. As many on this thread probably know…there is a certain distaste in bargaining for more merit aid when you know that equally deserving kids aren’t getting the financial aid they need…At the same time, you don’t want your kid to turn down the perfect fit school because the financial difference between choice one and choice two is so extreme it is hard to justify the expense…you somehow want to transmit that to the school without coming off as a whiner… I like the idea of being frank about the dilemma on the phone, should they call to ask. However, how do you word a cover letter when you send a school your kid’s scholarship offers from competitor schools? Can anyone give us a sample of this delicate dance of “please consider the following…”</p>
<p>My son wrote one last year that basically said that he really wanted to attend their school, but we (his big, bad parents) were making him seriously consider schools Y & Z because their costs to our family would be much lower.</p>
<p>He reiterated some of his better qualities (e.g. test scores that were above their 75%ile) and asked them to see if he might qualify for any additional scholarships. He attached copies of the scholarship letters from the other schools.</p>
<p>They ended up offering him just a tiny bit more.</p>
<p>Intouch: funny you should ask this question.
Today, the FA director at one of the lac’s where S was accepted called to see if we had any questions about the merit/FA package they have offered. S was not at home, so I took the call. My first question was about how the package might change in year 2; at that point, S will be the only child in college, so his EFC will increase. I expressed appreciation for the merit aid ($18,000) and a sincere interest in the particular school. I also explained that son has applied to other lac’s and will carefully compare the COA at the schools. I named 2 of the schools, both slightly more prestigious than the school that called, and said that I would be asking the same questions of each FA office. FA director explained a bit about their FA award process. We talked about some connections that I have to the school and she then suggested that if S narrowed his choices to that school and one other, he should write a letter appealing the merit award. She explained that she does not often invite appeals, but that sometimes they are granted for a few K more per year. Even a few thousand dollars per year could mean a total of $10,000 when all is said and done. I was surprised and appreciative.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice…it seems quite sound. I also looked at some of hte older threads and while tied to FA they also seem to show success occasionally from quiet, careful inquiry documenting merit aid from one or two schools that are comparable in prestige and cost to the university you are interested in.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It’s great to hear success stories. I hope the student didn’t forward the other offer unsolicited; that would backfire in many cases. When asking for a review based on other schools’ offers, the student must be prepared to submit them, but only on request. </p>
<p>We didn’t appeal D’s offer, but FWIW I gleaned the following general advice from a book on admissions: </p>
<p>Appeals should always be requested diplomatically with no hint of entitlement; do not think of it in terms of “negotiating”. </p>
<p>Colleges are most willing to review in light of new information: new circumstances (job loss, large medical expenses), or errors in the way your original information was interpreted.</p>
<p>They are more reluctant to adjust your aid based on offers from other schools, and some will not do it at all. In general, they’re more likely to increase your aid if they routinely compete against the other college for students (or aspire to compete against it); e.g., a Tier 2 school is more likely to match a Tier 1 offer than the other way around. Also, a college may look with more favor on an appeal if the student has exceptional academic qualifications or other talents compared to the school’s overall pool of admitted students. In other words, the more desirable you are, the better your chances of success.</p>
<p>Begin your request with a phone contact, stressing your desire to attend. State the circumstances calmly and factually. Be prepared to put the request in writing, including a copy of the other school’s offer.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids: Thanks, my daughter hasn’t received anything better than URochester yet. She has 1 comparable, so far. But your advice is good. At least one of her schools doesn’t give any merit at all. :eek:</p>
<p>fineartsmajormom: Thanks for weighing in. I agree, it can be a little distasteful asking for more merit money. It’s hard to know if your child is deserving. (Of course, I think she is.)</p>
<p>mom6350: Thanks, it sounds like you should use a gentle approach and not go in there with any sense of entitlement just like LasMa said (whether you are asking for an increase in merit or need-based). </p>
<p>merlin: I’m wondering if you know why the school contacted you in the first place? Is this common practice for some schools? Do you think they contacted all students who received aid? It sounds like you had a combination of need-based and merit in your FA package. We do not, strictly merit. Keep us posted on your son’s outcome. I’m curious if you will be given more merit money or more need-based money, if he pursues this.</p>