Ok, so my parents’ friend’s daughter goes to Alabama. She applied to a few other schools, with Bama not being at the top of her list. After her admissions decisions, it is said that she contacted her admissions counselors at the schools she was accepted at, shared what other schools were offering her (in merit aid), and basically set up a bidding war to get the schools to give her more scholarship money than they initially offered. Eventually, Bama raised her merit offer to the point where she couldn’t refuse it. Is this legit? It doesn’t seem logical from a logistical standpoint especially at a large state school where they admit 10,000 students a year and presumably wouldn’t have the time to negotiate with individual students. Also, I thought scholarship offers were definite, and I figure that an admissions counselor can’t go throwing money around without approval from a higher authority. Getting the approval would be an issue because of the first problem I stated. I could be wrong, but it just seems weird. Anyone have any input on this?
PS: she runs cross country at Alabama. Not sure how that plays into it but it could be a factor.
Some schools do meet offers from other schools. Some school do up their offers a little to entice you to come.
Athletic scholarships are different and the school has to follow a lot of rules when offering merit scholarships to athletes and the athletic budget of each team is limited.
Thank you for your input @twoinanddone this is a total game changer if I can negotiate because I’m applying to all out of state schools basically so I really need a good offer
hey i know you asked me to look at this, and i’m sorry but i am not qualified to answer your question because i have no experience or knowledge of this whatsoever. i hope you find an answer though!
Please don’t apply only to OOS schools hoping for merit. If you are a 4.0 NMSF who will likely be a NMF, you are probably OK but it’s still a risky strategy.
Don’t set your hopes on negotiating a deal.
I just looked at your other thread. You have good stats but UMD does not give a large number of merit scholarships. Not sure what other schools you are looking at. Some have guaranteed merit based on test scores and GPA. You need to look for those.
SOME schools consider and match other school’s offers. Harvard will match Yale’s offer (usually) but won’t match Alabama’s or New Mexico states’s. California public schools give NO need based aid to OOS students. Also, schools may try to match need based aid but not merit. If your friend at Alabama is getting athletic aid, she’s then getting merit aid but no need based aid, and any merit aid she’s getting she has to earn with grades and scores (the school can’t just give her aid because they want her to go there).
For each school you are looking at, run the NPC and see what types of aid you are eligible for. Assume that’s the aid you are going to get. Period. More will be nice, but unlikely.
I’m applying to Auburn as my in-state. All of my OOS minus Tulane are state schools (Kentucky, UMD, South Carolina, Clemson, Georgia, LSU) and I meet the requirements for the Presidential scholarships at most of these schools. I am very skeptical about this whole negotiating thing because of the reasons I gave at the top but I should get scholarship money anyway. It’s not a big deal at all if it’s false, but man it would be a hell of a thing if it was true @Sportsman88
I just want to see if Maryland would match like Kentucky or South Carolina. I know Maryland is a little more prestigious, but it’s still a state school. Maryland is definitely my number one school and I’m probably going there regardless but it’d be really nice if they could offer me even a little bit more money than originally because they are stingy with aid @twoinanddone
Ok. LSU’s is number based as long as you applied by the deadline so you should be good. I could see an SEC school maybe matching another SEC school. Make sure you apply to Paul Tulane and DHS scholarships. Deadline is early Dec I believe and requires an EA or ED application.
@Sportsman88 just saw your comment referring to my other thread. I know they’re stingy with aid, that’s why it would be awesome if they would match offers from other schools
Yeah I already submitted my Tulane application. The deadline for the DHS and Paul Tulane is Dec 5. I have a friend who is a freshman at Tulane and he said the yield for the Class of 2021 was a lot higher than expected so the acceptance rate this year is going to be lower than usual. Fingers crossed @Sportsman88
I’ve already applied to all my schools so now it’s just a matter of waiting
I think public schools are unlikely to meet a merit offer from another public school. I suspect your friend got an increase in athletic aid. Merit aid is often a set amount - 1/2 tuition, $20k for the ‘presidential’, $10k for the chancellors. That $20k mean a different thing to UK than to UMd as the tuition and costs are different. Georgia gives very little in aid to OOS students (its big aid program is Hope scholarship, for instate students).
None of the OOS schools on your list will match merit aid or negotiate with you. My D applied to all of them except Clemson last year. Be prepared to pay OOS cost of attendance minus whatever scholarship you’re offered. They all offer huge competitive merit, and you’ll find out later this year and next year whether you are in the mix for those.
Just saw your other thread. Your stats eliminate you from the big scholarships at most and from any scholarship at some of them.