Negotiating for More Financial Aid

<p>How do you go about asking for more financial aid? Do you call the school and ask? Should you schedule a meeting with the student financial aid services of the school?</p>

<p>Also, how does a major affect receiving financial aid? Would going into a medical career mean less financial aid than going into a different major in the same school? Someone told me that it does matter, but I thought merit was more important, so I don't know.</p>

<p>There is need based aid and there are “grants/scholarships”. All you can do is ask. Are you close enough to visit in person? Do you have a huge gap or a small gap? Is this a college that says they meet need?</p>

<p>Some schools discuss their financial aid awards and some won’t. You should try to arrange an appointment if possible.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>For need based aid…if you have gotten a better need based award from a PEER school (a school that is very similar in terms of demographics) you can see if your preferred school will match or increase your award to come closer the other award. Some schools do this and others simply do not.</p></li>
<li><p>For merit awards, you can ask, but again, most schools have criteria for awarding those merit scholarships.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Just ask if you can discuss you award.</p>

<p>Maybe they will be able to help you…and maybe not.</p>

<p>How much of a difference is there…?</p>