I was extremely excited to be admitted early yesterday, but based on the financial aid package I got (more than 3x what the net price calculator predicted) it doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to attend Yale. I was really surprised since I had read so much about Yale’s generosity.
I know the most specific guidance will come from the financial aid office but I’m wondering if anyone has any suggestions/tips/etc. when it comes to talking to the financial aid office about adjusting the package and making attendance more feasible. As I understand it, they’re often amenable to matching offers from similar colleges? (Should I wait until potentially getting a better offer from another Ivy League school regular decision before reaching out to the financial aid office?) Are there any other considerations? It’s not that my financial situation has changed since applying, but the expectation is that we’d be paying literally half of my family’s gross income every year.
For my S, Yale did “match” the offer from another Ivy school. But like other schools, I think they do not like to hear the word “match.” If you ask them to reassess or reevaluate your situation in light of another offer, they should be able to make you happy.
Is your family situation one of the ones that the NPC is not accurate for (parent owns a business, divorced, not a domestic student)? Is all of the information correct on the financial aid forms, or are there large assets that the calculator didn’t ask about?
Recent article from the Yale Daily News pertinent to your situation: http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2016/11/11/how-generous-is-generous-enough/ and yes, an RD acceptance and competing financial aid offer from a peer institution is probably the most effective route to an improved offer from Yale.
First off, congratulations on your acceptance to Yale!
As parents usually have more experience in financial negotiations (colleges hate that word, but that’s what it really is) than teenagers, I advocate a parent dealing with financial aid office rather than a student.
Your parents should definitely call Yale’s financial aid office in early January and ask them about how they came to their offer, explaining that the financial aid offer was substantially less than what the net price calculator predicted. Yale may have made an error in their calculation and might be able to increase their aid.
If you are also accepted to a Yale peer school in the RD round (Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth, Brown, UPenn, Cornell, Columbia, MIT, Stanford) and they offer you more financial aid, your parents can certainly call Yale;s financial aid office, fax them the offer and Yale may be able to reevaluate your financial aid and possibly match it. One caveat: if a college offers to increase their aid based upon a better offer from a peer school, they are usually agreeing only to do it for a student’s freshman year. Unless you can get a financial aid office to agree to a “side letter” stating that if a parents income remains the same over the next 3 years, the percentage of financial aid received in a student’s sophomore, junior and senior years will be the same (or better) than their freshman year, a college is under no obligation to give the student better FA in their upperclass years.
@gibby My experience with Yale reevaluating their award when presented with son’s Harvard award was that no “side letter” was necessary. I went in to the financial aid office on Bulldog Days with the Harvard letter, sat down with a financial aid officer and said that I would like my son to be able to make a decision between the two schools without any financial pressure. He prefers Yale, but being the responsible young person that he is, feels bad about putting a burden on the family and that might influence his decision. I was careful not to use the word “match.” It took the officer about 30 seconds to redo the offer. She said that she feels bad when families drop their RD applications after an EA admission and so can’t bring in another award from a peer instituion because it makes it much harder for the office to raise the award and that it was wonderful that my son continued with his RD applications and had another offer to bring in. She also said that Yale does not issue “side letters” but that the basis of the reevaluation was noted in the student’s files and that it would be honored for the entire four years barring any substantive changes in the family’s financial situation. Have found that to be true so far.
While I agree with @gibby , as he correctly states, which applies to me as well, these are our opinions. Neither of us, nor anybody here, works in the FA office. Considering the Cost of Attendance, if in the very unlikely event that CMC or Bowdoin has a better offer, I would still ask the FA office. All they can say is no.
To @TomSrOfBoston 's point, Yale, or any Ivy, will match nobody’s merit award.
I would definitely ask for a recalculation. Your parents should be involved since they are the ones whose information they are using. There are many things that the FAFSA does not take into consideration that Yale may. If you read my posts, you will see that I got my D’s original amount reduced by a significant amount. Nothing beats a failure but a try. If you were strong enough for them to take early, you have time before now and when you have to decide to deal with the financial aid aspect. Don’t give up.
Everyone, thank you for the advice. @Tperry1982 I ran the NPC again and I think where I was off was my failure to include contributions to retirement accounts. Including that got the estimation a bit closer to what I actually received. To clarify - are you suggesting that my parents talk to Yale before potentially receiving a better offer during RD from a peer school? Or is this really only a one shot thing where it’s better to wait until we have that leverage in hand?
@ProspectiveEli - Yale is not really big on the negotiating because of other offers. They are truly need based. What you need is for your parents to give them a realistic indication of how paying the amount they have offered will affect your family and they may be able to provide more info. I have never been a fan of the kid doing financial aid documents, especially where the parent contribution is on the line. It’s worse than doing taxes. Can you parent(s) step in and deal with the Financial Aid office? It’s in their best interest. But, in the end, if you want to wait for other offers, you can go that route too. But you may have wasted time that you could be asking for a reconsideration. Nothing beats a failure but a try.
Note that you are not “negotiating” but asking for a review. This stuff is sooooo complicated, be sure that the person best informed takes it on (you or a parent). They are very helpful at Fin Aid but be sure to have your paperwork in front of you. It can be as simple as someone helping you see where formulas are incomplete or inconsistent. Sometimes documentation is missing.