<p>I agree, Dadofsam, and would further say that leverage can also come from other aspects, like where you live, what school your child attends, etc. If your state is underrepresented at a school that would like to increase their yield nationally, it can help. S's GC told us that one university he is seriously considering would "love" to get one of our students, as it might start a trend so to speak. Basically, if they want your child and they have adequate funds to do it, they will negotiate.</p>
<p>We found that many of the peer institutions seemed to <em>know</em> about what would be given and they came out with very similar offers. One school came back with an additional grant, without our asking....I think maybe they must have found out what the peers might be offering. </p>
<p>We also discovered that the institutions do keep an eye on state tuitions if they are trying to get a student from out-of-state to come to a private school.</p>
<p>Kid got $5K/yr from $0 when he showed school that he had considerable award from a competitive school. I'm sure that the school will get their $ back when he gives back to the college. He's already made a small nonmonetary enhancement to his school's reputation.</p>
<p>I know of two separate cases where one school offered merit aid and the other did not. The student appealed (by forwarding the actual award letter as requested by the adcoms) and the school decided to match the offers. You never know until you try.</p>
<p>I think that one of the things you must be careful to consider is does your new negotiated deal carry through all 4 years as some will match to get you in the door, and if there are any stings attached.</p>
<p>I am not saying that you will not get any money. Of course, I know there are those who negotiate more. I read the articles too. And I personally know kids who got some more. I just want to warn people that it is unlikely to get substantially more, and it is likely that your request will be denied as well. Don't go into this thinking you are going to hit some jackpot--if you do, well and good. But be realistic. Also, anecdotally, people are not always honest about telling others what they got. I found that out the hard way when I tried some years ago to put together a data base. I had some great data, but then found out that some very nice kids AND Parents lied to me. Now I pay bounties for award letters, and get a lot less data, but at least it is verified. My son's catholic school posts awards and college acceptances, and they too had to insist that in order to be posted, the school had to see the original letter. Again, they were getting too many lies. So do take some of the stories with a grain of salt. If I had a buck for every time someone claims someone got an athletic scholarship,and the infor is bogus, I could make a nice dent in a college tuition. </p>
<p>And Sybbie is quite right. Some of the schools do offer "teaser" packages and then replae the grants with loans the following year, or there is some qualifier to keep the money like an ornerous gpa. It is not easy to get a 3.0 at a school like Case. I know many kids who lost their scholarships there.</p>
<p>Sybbie and jamimom:</p>
<p>How do you see that the aid pacakge is same throughout 4 years. You can find that they can tell you to mainatain a threshold GPA. BUt they also mention that most of the aid will remain same provided income is not changed dratically. Could you give me some hints to avoid this trap. Thanks</p>
<p>There are some schools that are notorious for this sort of thing. The best thing to do is to talk to kids who are going there what the perception is about aid. The example about Case, for instance is real. USC is a school with a reputation for bait and switch. Also, when your student gets his package, some will have renewable scholarships that tend to stay with the recipient unless he fails to make a threshold GPA or has other issues. Some scholarships are just pulled from the school's general fund and there is no commitiment to give the next year. Now financial aid is a different thing, in that unless you get merit within aid, the amounts are need based, and you can ask for info as to what % of aid recipients in the upper grades are getting grants vs loans. </p>
<p>The schools with the larger endowments tend to be more generous, and do not tend to do this sort of thing. But when you get the offers, do ask about the numbers for the upper classmen and find out what portion of the aid tends to be renewed.</p>
<p>Yes, be carefull about the "most of the aid will stay the same.. " line - the aid amount may stay the same, but the composition of the aid (% of loan, grant, etc.) may change substantially!</p>
<p>but the composition of the aid (% of loan, grant, etc.) </p>
<p>That's right because as our dear children get older the larger the loan is that they are able to take. So what starts out as 2000 freshman year can be 5,000 by senior year even though the school is giving you the same amount of $ in aid. In addiiton, the amount of $ that the student must earn fromtheir summer earnings also goes up each year</p>
<p>Once caveat I learned on the PR board about 3 years ago is that some private schools offer "grants" for the first two years, when the package comes out for year 3, the grants ahve magically become loans! By the time you learn of this, it is too late toe transfer to most places for the fall semester and you've spent two years "loving" your campus.</p>
<p>We actually factored this info into our decision and did not choose the school mentioned in an earlier post, despite an attractive package. I heard on this board this past spring, of several people whose grants became loans at that school. While a loan may help, it does not reduce the cost of the school and at $40k annually,that is a big cost! Ask schools about their policies when comparing the competitors, you may be glad you did!</p>
<p>Wow...that almost seems a "dishonest" bait and switch type technique. I have heard of one high school re-evaluating need, and being less generous as the years went by (as the student became more attached of course). However, my knowledge was only hear-say on one school only.</p>
<p>Were these college grants that disappear need based or merit based? I would be very surprised if this were done w/ merit based grants (although perhaps they are should more correctly be labeled scholarships). </p>
<p>I'd be very interested if any parents are willing to list such schools!!!</p>
<p>Negotiations can work if it truly is your first choice school and you have better offers elsewhere.They would not work if you are going back and forth between schools. Some schools actually expect it and have a process for it, others only will negotiate if they really want you. As long as you are honest. My son wrote his own letter to the school he wanted to go to badly but that gave him more of a token offer. They increased it allowing him to go. He is extremely happy there and could not have gone otherwise.</p>
<p>how easy is it to negotiate with colleges like Yale and MIT if you're an international?</p>
<p>I don't know. Some schools may not negoitiate at all and will have no problem to tell you to got to school where your money an take you. Are you going to have a major hook or leverage in this process where school is going to be prepared to woo you and throw $$'s your way? (nope).</p>
<p>Because you may have more on the line (showing that you have the resourses readily avialable to fill the gap in your aid package) this can be a little sticky. Both schools are need blind, and I beleive they will both meet 100% of your demonstrated need (as they determine, not what you feel you can afford, or the amount of money your parents are only going to pay). </p>
<p>Your situtation is going to be the same as a U.S. student from the perspective of as you go through the years, you will become more of an active participant in the financing of your education and you will be paying more each year through summer earnings and work study.</p>
<p>All you can do is try. the worst that can happen is that the school says no and your are really then no worse off from when you started.</p>
<p>Sybie:</p>
<p>Could you please post your comments about </p>
<p>"FAFSA EFC VS Actual Aid" Thanks</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yes, be carefull about the "most of the aid will stay the same.. " line - the aid amount may stay the same, but the composition of the aid (% of loan, grant, etc.) may change substantially!
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I'm a student and I'm not familiar with this. When you say that the composition of the aid might change -- do the colleges explain their policies about this in writing, and it is something we should be looking for in the fine print? Or is it information that they don't tell you about and we should ask them to explain before accepting an offer?
Thanks.</p>
<p>The schools expects studnets to be active participants in the financing of their education. There will be a gradual shift with the student taking on more of the burden of financing the education each year (not talking about merit aid/ scholarships in this scenario) The most basic part of this statement is if there are stafford loans in your financial aid package. the caps each year are:</p>
<p>Freshman year- $2625
Sophmore year- $3500
Jr/Sr year - $5500</p>
<p>So it is very easy that your "overall award" remains the same but your stafford loan will increase year over year. </p>
<p>In addition, each year, you will be expected to "earn a little" more because the student portion of the EFC will increase yeach year.</p>
<p>when calling to attempt a negotiation, is it better for a parent or for the student to speak with the financial aid office?</p>
<p>thanks.</p>
<p>In my experience, this is a parent call. When I did it successfully for my D, I called the number listed on the merit award letter from her top choice, explained that D had gotten more $$ from another school, but that she really wanted to go to top choice. I said that we would not decide only on $$, but it was a significant factor. They matched the other offer. </p>
<p>At the same time, D's friend's parents were also trying to negotiate with another school, saying much the same thing. They were told that while the school might reconsider an award if a mistake was made or there was significant new info, the school's policy is not to get into a "bidding" situation and it does not matter if the student got more $$ elsewhere. I suppose they could have just said that because they didn't want the kid enough, but the parents really felt that the explanation was indeed the truth. And I have not yet heard of anyone negotiating successfully with that school.</p>
<p>By the way, the terminology to use is "will you reconsider" not "I am calling to negotiate...."</p>
<p>However it turns out, I do not think they expect the student to do it and they do not decide based on who makes the call.</p>