<p>I wonder if the approach is different when dealing with appeals for more financial aid and appeals for more merit. I can see when appealing for more FA, presenting new financial constraints (recently lost job and so forth) would be necessary. Appealing for a better merit scholarship might be different, I’m not sure.</p>
<p>In the scenario I presented, FA wasn’t a consideration…it was purely merit. The family did state that at this point, the favorite school was not affordable because OOS costs were too high for them. The family thought the request was a long shot and were prepared for a “no,” so they were quite surprised when the yes came so quickly. Again, the student’s stats and “home state” were desirable.</p>
<p>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>One way to know if your child is “deserving” (aka desirable to the school), is to look at the range of the top 25% of the school. If your child’s stats would likely fall in the upper part of that 25% (which can be a guesstimation based on the top 25%), then likely your child’s stats are very desirable for the school. </p>
<p>Your D’s stats 4.4 w GPA, ACT 33, SAT 2020 (her ACT is **much **higher than SAT, so we won’t use SAT)</p>
<p>For instance, with URoch…</p>
<p>Mid 50% range…</p>
<p>SAT Critical Reading:… 590 - 690<br>
SAT Math: … 640 - 720<br>
SAT Writing:… 590 - 690</p>
<p>ACT Composite: 28 - 33 </p>
<p>Unless there is a mistake in the posted numbers, your D’s stats are in the mid 50s range for URoch (they got some very smart kids if the upper 25% have ACT 34+). </p>
<p>I do find it odd that the top of the mid 50s range is a SAT 2100, but the top of the mid 50s range for ACT is a 33. A 33 is higher than a 2100. A 33 is equal to a 2190. I wonder if that’s a mistake. </p>
<p>If this school is unaffordable with the current merit, does your D have any financial safety schools that she likes?</p>
<p>Re: “Kids at her school with lower stats getting similar money from different schools”. </p>
<p>I think that’s really too much apples to oranges. </p>
<p>My own daughter’s school has plenty of kids with MUCH lower stats on full rides …but at different schools. Also - did your daughter complete a scholarship application, or was this based solely on stats? Because my own D didn’t get a huge scholarship at out state school, that I REALLY thought she’d get, because they give preference to National Merit Finalists. I was a bit floored when she didn’t get it…but I found out many kids with lower stats DID get it. So…it was obviously based on the application…not just black and white stats (maybe they had more community service, overcame a more difficult hardship, etc.). They could have also had a higher rank…that’s back to stats. But I just wanted to mention there are SO many variables in your comparison it’s really kind of hard to know what happened with whom and where.</p>
<p>For us…I would definitely not be asking for 2nd consideration/more money. The scholarship is what it is…and it was given to the kids they selected. Done deal. My daughter got 4 different scholarships to this uni. And most were all a “set” amount…so it would do no good to ask for more (I assume). One was variable, and she got “near” the top of that one. So…if you have a scholly like THAT…perhaps you could ask. ?? I’m personally not comfortable doing that sort of thing, but…hopefully you’ll find some on here whose stories maybe give you the impetus to act, and maybe you’ll get a bit more.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids: Yes, I’ve looked at those percentages too. I think I saw all that on collegeboard. Regardless of the numbers, we never really know how desirable our kids are to a school because I’m sure the applicant pool is slightly different each year. We can never really know how they stack up. And it’s very easy for her to doubt herself over time. This is where a magic ball would come in handy. We do have less expensive options, though, so no worries. However, I want her to go to the college of her choice. (As I’m sure do all parents.) Currently Rochester is not out of the picture with her current merit award. It would just be easier with more money in her(our) pocket! I have another graduating in '12 :D</p>
<p>Next time 'round we’ll pay more attention to which schools award the most merit money and see how they fit with what D2 wants to study! We didn’t take that into consideration when D1 was researching which schools she wanted to attend. I’ve learned so much on CC.</p>
<p>My D’s admiss counselor & I have been in touch via email during this whole process and I felt comfortable to mention that she was excited to be accepted, but bummed at no merit aid (art school, and we do not qualify for any need-based), and he said he was too, but competition was fierce. He suggested I fax him copies of awards from other schools, so am not sure if I need a cover letter, but may need one if I ever hear from the other school she applied to!</p>
<p>redbug: Waiting is the hard part. Is this school her first choice? Once all the acceptances are in the kids won’t have much time to make a decision, nevermind negotiate for more (or any) merit. :(</p>
<p>For awhile it was tied with another midwest art school for top choice, and this one has edged out the other and is now her first choice. We haven’t even heard if she’s been accepted at the other one. Her third choice is the one that gave her the money, but the way she weighs things over and over in her mind, it could work itself up the ladder. The third choice is $10K less tuition-wise plus merit aid. So we patiently wait for school # 2 to respond…</p>
<p>intouch: I really don’t know why my son was chosen to receive a phone call. I can speculate that he is in the top 25% of applicants; that he was awarded one of the higher, but not the highest, merit award; that the school is often a safety for students applying to first tier schools. But, really, I don’t know.
I suspect that many admitted students, who ultimately choose to attend other schools, free up merit aid that can be awarded to others. Also, we live a distance away and S would add geographic diversity to the student mix. Not many in our area of NE seem familiar with this school.
S has received phone calls from a coach at a similar school, less expensive, offering similar merit and financial aid. But that’s different because it was about the sport.</p>
<p>Overall, it seemed like a marketing/recruitment call. When I saw the caller ID, I figured it was probably a call from a coach. I was pleasantly surprised!</p>
<p>Faxed her merit award letters from 3rd choice to adcon at what has now become 1st choice (after seeing course catalog with great SCIENCE classes (her 2nd love after art). Adcon is going to walk it around and wanted me to call him and let him know what it would take to get her there, because he knew that’s what they were going to ask him. Was not sure how to respond, as I know “free-ride” isn’t the right answer, but didn’t want to go too low either. Did the numbers and diff between School#1 and #3 is $19K. This is bottom line for both AFTER subtracting School#3 merit aid. Ended up telling him DH is looking at the $19k diff but D wants to go to School #1, and that with some merit aid we could probably get him to agree. He said she had been right on the border of getting merit aid, and if she went to School #3, she could transfer and her portfolio would be that much stronger for aid the next year. Or go to a CC and work on her GPA up to a 4.0 (its 3.6 now) and transfer in then. Told him CC was NOT an option - gotta be art school or nothing. He now knows this is her first choice and he’s gonna take it to the director of admissions and we’ll see.</p>
<p>He said she had been right on the border of getting merit aid, and if she went to School #3, she could transfer and her portfolio would be that much stronger for aid the next year. Or go to a CC and work on her GPA up to a 4.0 (its 3.6 now) and transfer in then.</p>
<p>I would ask him what the likelihood of getting a big scholarship as a transfer student. I don’t know how art schools work, but other schools give smaller scholarships (or no scholarships) to transfer students.</p>
<p>So the admissions counselor was advising your daughter to go to the other school? Maybe that school doesn’t get that many transfers and there is a different merit aid pool allocated for transfers that she would benefit from? It doesn’t make much sense to me though. I hope they come back with some merit for your daughter. That’s a lot easier than trying to transfer after what? one semester? a year? Good luck.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids - So how do I determine if we are from a desired state? School in question is Rochester and we are from Texas. Thanks in advance.</p>