Questions about requesting more merit from first choice school

Paying for College
1

I’ve read some posts on here about asking for additional merit and leveraging other offers. I plan to ask my D’s first choice school for more so it will stretch the budget a bit less. I know it can’t hurt to ask for more, but I’m not a natural “asker” and I want to do this right!

D got a scholarship for 15K from RIT, bringing the COA down to 38K.
Clarkson U offered 29.5K bringing COA to 35K which happens to be our budget.

The 15K from RIT is a presidential scholarship which ranges from 10K to 16K.

Obviously I’d love to get RIT down to up their offer by 3K, but this seems unlikely. I’m also not sure if presenting the Clarkson offer provides any advantage. RIT is ranked 58 in USNWR engineering and Clarkson is 75. RIT’s AR is 55% while Clarkson’s is 68%. I’m guessing this isn’t a very good “leverage” situation, but I’d like to get some input.

Assuming that I don’t present any other offer, what is the best way to make the request? Should I ask for a specific amount and how much would be reasonable to ask for?

RIT is her first choice, so I could say that if she gets X amount she will enroll right away. Or should I say that if she gets any discount she’ll go? I’m assuming admissions wouldn’t be mean enough to up the amount by just $100 or something!

Thanks for any advice you guys can offer!

2

You can ask…but be prepared for a no answer.

And yes, the merit offer could only increase by a small amount.

Usually merit awards are tied to specific academic and stats criteria. Has you kiddo done anything merit wise that is not on her application? Any awards or honors?

That being said…contact RIT and see what they say.

Does your daughter aready have the $5500 federal loan for freshman year in her package? If not, consider that as well. And does she have a job?

3

The amount of estimated personal expenses, travel, books included in COA can vary a lot between schools.

What are her net prices for both schools?

Direct billed costs like tuition, fees, room and board minus grants and scholarships (not including loans or work study)?

4

Before you look into asking for more aid from RIT, look at all costs at each school carefully.

Is there a requirement of living on campus for a certain number of years? Is a meal plan required, are there cheaper options? How much is upperclassmen housing? Is there affordable off-campus housing available?

Is health insurance required?

Is the aid from Clarkson need-based or merit? What GPA is required for merit aid?

5

I looked up Clarkson 2017/18 rates tuition, fees, room, board adds up to $62,438 - $29,500 = $32,938

For RIT I could only find 2016/17 numbers tuition, fees, R&B adds up to $50,842 - $15,000 = $35,842

6

I would not mention the Clarkson offer. I would write a generic letter saying that this school has a been a clear first choice with your son from the beginning but unfortunately it is a financial challenge to enable him to attend based on the initial FIN AID award and you would like to know if there are other financial opportunities available to make this college a reality. You should also ask for them to reconsider the original offer and see if a slight increase in aid is possible.

It is a low percentage shot but you have to take it.

Good luck.

7

It’s early in the decision process. Ranking and cost (if close to budget and not a hardship) are not all that’s important.

I would have her visit both schools, interact with some faculty and students, and make sure that RIT is her favorite.

Also from 2015/16 to 2016/17 RIT cost went up by about $1800 or 3.67%, that could make the net price closer to $38,000 instead of $36,000

8

I wouldn’t write, I would contact the FA director and have your child on the phone as well. Say that this is first choice school and child will commit immediately if it became more affordable (i.e. Receiving $3k more). Politely mention that her second choice is Clarkson and the net cost to go there would be $35k, which is just doable with strict budgeting, but if RIT could give $3k more than the net cost would be the same and your child would immediately commit and deposit.

Schools want to know that you will commit/deposit if they give more. They do not want to waste time working with you and then have you go elsewhere.

9

Another thing to consider…make sure that merit aid increase will continue for all four years if a GPA is maintained. Otherwise, you will,have to do,this song and dance annually.

10

Thanks for all the help! In case it makes a difference, based on our budget D will be borrowing fairly close to the federal loan max for the 35K tuition and she’d rather not go over that (I agree!) I’m not sure if mentioning that would make any difference to RIT.

@thumper1, yes, both schools added in the $5500 federal loan and some work-study, but I’m only listing merit here. Unfortunately she does not have any new awards or honors. She is maintaining all A’s, but that isn’t much news! And thanks for the reminder that I need to specify four years of whatever they might be willing to add.

@mommdc, We don’t qualify for need-based at either school. The amounts I’ve listed are merit, not including federal loans or work-sudy. Thanks for pointing out other costs to keep in mind. At either college, she’d probably live on campus freshman year only (not required beyond). I did see that the same (full) meal plan costs about $1000 more per year at Clarkson than at RIT. More numbers to dig through. Apartments around Clarkson would be about $500/month and around RIT $700/month. Neither college requires us to purchase health insurance.

When you ask “What GPA is required for merit?” I’m not sure if you mean HS GPA to get it or college GPA to retain. Her GPA is 3.9 UW 4.4 W, but neither school lists a certain requirement like for the auto-merit at some schools. Clarkson requires 2.0 to keep aid and RIT requires 2.8.

She has visited both schools and RIT is her absolute first choice. However, she likes Clarkson a lot too and could see herself there. I think RIT would be the best fit of all the schools she’s considered, but I also like Clarkson as well.

@MassDaD68, a letter like that would be very accurate!

@mom2collegekids, I like that except for having D on the phone too – her phone skills are not the best. I know admissions likes for the kids to be proactive, but it seems they don’t mind as much when parents step in on the financial side. I will definitely express to them that if they can offer $3000/year more she will enroll immediately.

11

D received 15k out of their max merit of 16k. The best you could probably hope for is they up the scholarship an additional 1k. If she is not National merit, it is highly unlikely that they are going to up the scholarship more than 1k. Since merit $ comes from admissions, then you need to have your conversation with with them. What are your D’s stats? Is she at the top of the pool?

You state that you have no financial need. From the school’s perspective if financially you are full pay, no additional $$ are probably coming.

What you also need to know from both schools are the minimum GPA requirements needed to keep the scholarship. Since you mentioned this, the 2.0 at Clarkson means that all she has to do is maintain satisfactory academic progress. It may be harder for her to get maintain this 2.8 at RIT especially for a challenging major.

If you get the increase this year, what happens in subsequent years. Since both scholarships seem to be a set amount vs a percentage of tuition, it is unlikely that the scholarship will increase as tuition increases.

The current direct cost for RIT is $52k. The scholarship plus the 35k budget brings her to 50k. She was offered a loan

While you may not want her to take the loan she may need to borrow the entire 5.5k to fill the gap. Will you be eligible to take the ATOC credit? That will also help to close the gap. If she does not have a job, she needs to get one now that she can work through the summer to help defray her incidental
costs.

ETA:

IF money is an issue, hopefully she has tossed some applications at UB, Potsdam (which has a 3+2 program with Clarkson, they are in close proximity to each other) and Bing. If she is graduating at the top 10% of her class and going in to STEM and committed to working in NYS for 5 years, she will get free tuition at SUNY, bringing your cost under 20K (she still has time to apply)

https://www.hesc.ny.gov/pay-for-college/financial-aid/types-of-financial-aid/nys-grants-scholarships-awards/nys-science-technology-engineering-and-mathematics-stem-incentive-program.html

She should also apply for an AIMS scholarship when it opens

https://www.hesc.ny.gov/pay-for-college/financial-aid/types-of-financial-aid/nys-grants-scholarships-awards/nys-achievement-and-investment-in-merit-scholarship-ny-aims.html

Is she ranked # 1 in her class?

If yes, and her GC/Administration did the work, she will most likely get an $1500/year academic excellence scholarship

https://www.hesc.ny.gov/pay-for-college/financial-aid/types-of-financial-aid/nys-grants-scholarships-awards/nys-scholarships-for-academic-excellence.html

12

The good news…if she takes that $5500 federal,loan in her name…or part of it…she will come in under your budget.

13

I agree with @thumper1 . You are lucky to be so close to your number. If you are only off by the gov,t loan amount or less AND this is the top choice, then I think it is worth it for the student to take on some debt to achieve the top choice. Your family is in a good spot. You should feel blessed.

14

Yes, I was asking what GPA is needed to keep scholarship.

15

It never hurts to ask. As others have said, be prepared for no, but do ask. I found that it was helpful to:

  1. Make it clear that with more $ your child WILL commit (but do NOT do this unless you mean it)
  2. Have your child follow up the call with a letter or email thanking them for considering the request/listening to the plea.
    Remember too that, if it is not considered yet, it is not bad for your child to have some skin in the game and be told they will have to work this summer to cover some of the remaining dollars needed if they REALLY want to go to the school.

Our oldest wanted his choice badly enough that he agreed to turn over summer earnings before freshman year toward the tuition gap and set his sites day one being an RA to drop the cost sophomore year and beyond (and got it…which pays with all cost covered for his room and 1/2 off the food bill, as well a small stipend). So, the student can try and help make up the gap as well.

16

Some things to consider.
My son is at RIT, and we saved a lot in housing costs the 2nd/3rd years when he moved into on-campus apartment with friends. Colony Manor (one of several) are un-furnished, 2-4 person apts. They are sort of like ‘off-campus’, but since they are owned by RIT, you are only paying for the academic year, and everything is still handled through RIT housing/billing (VERY convenient). You do have to move-out for the summer, but he shared a storage place with a group so he paid maybe $50 for the summer. He has a simple mattress on a metal frame, and took a desk&dresser from home, and a chair and TV he picked up on the side of the road (!). (and actually, if you go to RIT during move-out, students leave a lot of fine furnishings for the dumpster…it’s sad actually, but I’m sure it happens in a lot of places…but I digress). His 2-bdr, 4-person apt is $4018 for the year (if you figure 9 months, thats ~$500/month). It’s one of the cheapest, and is at least $3000 less than the dorm options.

So while your D might want to be in the dorms freshman year, you might be able to arrange for housing-related savings in later years.

My son’s on co-op now, and another student, who was on co-op in the fall, has moved into his place in the apt. Again, because it’s all still under RIT housing, the transition paperwork was essentially non-existent. They handle it all seamlessly.

Also, if your D will be doing co-ops, she could be earning a tidy amount to contribute toward following semesters.
My son’s first co-op (right now) he is getting paid $18+/hr, plus $250/wk living stipend (and his housing is only costing him $400/month). He expects to save well over $15,000 by the summer, so will have plenty to contribute next year.

Since RIT’s highest merit is $16,000 (unless your D is NMSF?), I wouldn’t expect them to go any higher than that.
Good Luck!

17

We just went through this ask process. My D wrote a letter (a very good one by the way). The director of admissions and financial aid texted her to set up a time to chat. She was prepared for the conversation, had all of her points outlined including what she was doing over the summers to make money, and had a great 45 minute conversation with him. At the end, he told her he couldn’t commit any more money right now because they are still admitting students. He told her to contact him in late March and they can see what he can do. He also gave her huge kudos for writing the letter and talking to him by herself (I was in the room but not on the phone). He said most requests come from parent and he really appreciated her ability to step up. Only time will tell if she will get more money, but it’s a small school and she definitely made a strong positive impression.

18

Additional kudos to your D @KMich!

19

“Clarkson requires 2.0 to keep aid and RIT requires 2.8.”

This is important, especially if the student will be an engineering or STEM major. She might be a straight A student in HS, but find college much harder and find it more difficult some semesters to maintain that 2.8.

20

I really appreciate all the input. At this point it looks like I need to do some more research on true costs including those not in the COA. More spreadsheet pages required – so many numbers! I agree that it looks like the most I could hope for is an extra thousand, but even a chance at 4K total is worth a carefully considered email or conversation.

@sybbie719, thanks for the in depth advice! I had never of the atoc credit, but it looks like she would be eligible. She will be getting a summer job. We don’t actually live in NY, though I can see why you’d assume so with two NY schools! She does have a very affordable in-state safety and it’s also a place she could transfer if things went sideways for some reason (such as not being able to maintain GPA for merit).

@thumper1, @MassDaD68, and @ReturningFavor I see that I didn’t state things clearly up top, but the budget is for H and I to pay $30K (price of in-state flagship) and D to take out $5K/year for a max price of $35,000. She would have to pay an extra $3K/year for RIT, although she could borrow that from us at rate of inflation.

We did the whole “budget talk” thing and made it really clear that this was the deal. She doesn’t want a lot of debt, which is great, but I think RIT is a perfect enough fit to be worth it, especially since she’d be borrowing the extra from “bank of mom and dad” who will probably not repossess her house!

@WhataProcess, thanks for sharing first-hand RIT info. On our visit we drove around and saw the apartment housing which looks great. It sounds like an excellent deal, especially in terms of dealing with the school rather than some possibly sketchy landlord. I’m also thinking that with co-op earnings $32,000 total debt is not that big a deal. She’s a known tightwad so I think she could save about the same as your S.

@KMich, I hope your D will get the money – good on her for making that effort. I’ll have to ponder whether to encourage D to do the asking, but I’m leaning against it. She has a very blunt style and is not too good socially.

@mamom, yep, another thing I’m probably trying not to think about. At least it’s not 3.0 or even higher as at some schools. She is an excellent student (in my own unbiased opinion!) and I think she’s ready for college work. She took two DE classes at our state flagship last semester (including one engineering class, but not an especially challenging one) and got A’s without much problem. She’s a very hardworking self-starter. But having said all that, I’m sure many like her have fallen off a 2.8 precipice.