<p>Is it possible to negotiate merit aid with universities?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t push my luck. There’s a reason it’s called merit aid - because that’s why they feel you deserve based on their own calculations. I know how much it can suck, but colleges aren’t really institutions to be pushed around.</p>
<p>But wouldn’t you say it’s worth a try? </p>
<p>Like if a school offers me aid that doesn’t make it quite affordable the worst that could happen is that they say no and I don’t attend.</p>
<p>I am wondering the same thing.</p>
<p>My DS has been offered the top award at American, so it has become the most realistic choice. (Instate at Rutgers is also a realistic choice, but he doesn’t want that). I know some schools have rigid criteria (U Pitt based on rank and SAT scores, which he just missed.) I am wondering if UMD might offer more if asked.</p>
<p>Especially if you are OOS for UMD, I wouldn’t think they would up your merit aid. Those awards usually have a university based criteria as well. </p>
<p>Certainly, you can ask anywhere, but don’t be surprised if they say no. Also at this point in time, many schools don’t yet KNOW how many accepted students will accept their financial aid offers and how many will decline admissions. Most don’t know if they will have any “leftover” money.</p>
<p>What about this situation? DD was accepted and received merit aid to several schools. Top choices are UConn and Quinnipiac. We’re RI residents, so both are OOS. Even though UConn is public and QU private, one could argue that UConn is the “better” school, using stats like:</p>
<p>First-year retention rate
UConn 93
Quinnipiac 88</p>
<p>Graduation rate (6 years)
UConn 74
Quinnipiac 72</p>
<p>High School Rank (US News 2008)
Top 10% Top 25%
UConn 39 78
Quinnipiac 29 68</p>
<p>Of course, “better” academically doesn’t mean “better” overall and there are of course advantages to a smaller private school vs. a large public. So DD probably likes QU more than UConn. Here’s the tricky part: QU offered her 14k/yr merit and UConn an OOS 1/2 tuition of 11,600/yr, yet QU’s tuition is 32k and UConn’s ~23k. So even w/ the higher merit award, QU would still cost 18k (tuition only) and UConn just 11,600, for a yearly difference of 6400. Of course that’s more like 25k over 4 years. </p>
<p>Would it be ok to ask QU if they might be able to offer a higher award to compare to UConn? I wouldn’t think it’d be necessary to share the above stats w/ them, as I would expect they’re well aware of their competition. Or is the fact that UConn is public and QU private make them NON-competitors? We just have a tough time justifying the difference for what is arguably not even the “better” school.</p>
<p>Also, QU recently invited DD to their honors program, stating that it’s reserved for only about 60 (top 5%) of their incoming freshman class. Their scholarships award 10-14k for students w/ SATs of at least 1200 and 16-18k for those above 1400; DD was 1300, plus top 5% of her class, all honors and some AP courses, two varsity sports, lots of ECs. QU seems to value her as a fine addition. However, UConn’s 1/2 tuition award was supposed to require 1350 SATs and they obviously bent the rule a bit. I’m considering having DD relay some/all of this info to QU and asking them if they can bend a bit on the 1400 SAT. It could potentially yield us an additional 2-4k/yr.</p>
<p>Thoughts are appreciated. Thank you.</p>
<p>Sandman,</p>
<p>Is there any reason not to ask QU for more money? It seems to me that all they can say is no. Last year, my son asked a private university for more merit $$ and got a bump of a couple thousand/year for 4 years. Not a huge amount, and it didn’t make up the difference between the private and the state U, but over 4 years, every little bit helps.</p>
<p>That’s what we’re thinking too, even a couple grand over 4 yrs is 8k. Thank you.</p>