<p>Which means of communication is best for when I would like to negotiate for financial aid due to special circumstances?</p>
<p>It might depend on the school, but for one school, I (the parent) did a face to face explanation to the financial aid counselor at a decision day event, and then she asked me to put what I “said/explained” into a letter called a Preliminary (for Preliminary FA Award) Special Circumstances Letter, which I emailed.</p>
<p>Another school, it was all done via email from my son to the the financial aid counselor. My son asked for a re-evaluation, the counselor asked for an explanation via email, my son responded, and after a couple of days, the counselor responded via email with her answer.</p>
<p>So maybe call them first to get an idea of how they want you to do it “officially.” Good Luck!</p>
<p>You are not so much negotiating but you are appealing the financial aid decision because of something that has changed in your life since you applied for aid. Check the college website and see if they have a process and if not, then e-mail financial aid and ask them how to appeal your financial aid decision because of a change in circumstances. </p>
<p>I have usually started with a phone call from the parent and followed up with emails of other offers, etc. I would either call/email, it’s getting late to send a letter. </p>
<p>Agree that you should not talk about negotiating, but rather review or reevaluation of your FA package based on other offers, new financial information, etc. It is good to have a paper trail for future years. If they do make an adjustment, be sure to get confirmation that if your FA package will be at the same relative level for the next three years as well.</p>
<p>We started with an email and were then asked to send a letter.</p>