<p>is it possible to "negotiate" with colleges that do not officially give out merit based aid such as yale and stanford?</p>
<p>If a school does not give out an merit only aid, there is not negotiation or discussion of the subject. However, you can go over eligibility for financial aid and differences in aid packages between, say Harvard and Yale, if you are so lucky enough to be accepted by both schools and have difference in aid offered. I believe in "The Gatekeepers" this was actually done by one of the kids shadowed in the book.</p>
<p>Hey there. I just covered this on my blog from the MIT perspective if it helps. Generally those of us in this tier follow the same general principle.</p>
<p>so if a school determines you ineligible to recieve any finaid there is no way you can convince them that you need just a wee little bit lol</p>
<p>Generally not - unless there are some special circumstances that were not represented by the FAFSA and/or Profile. Most schools have an appeals procedure, but you need a really good reason (like someone lost a job or is ill), not just you wish they'd given you some money....</p>
<p>If we did not turn in the FAFSA to any colleges, we cannot negotiate for money? Like if school A offers me half tuition and school B offered me nothing, appealing to school B would be useless because I did not do the FAFSA?</p>
<p>Yes, you still can. See my post number 8 above. There are a number of other threads around that address negotiating for more merit money, too.</p>
<p>If you are going to try to be reconsidered for more aid, when is the best time to ask? Now ..or closer to May 1st? Colleges will know better how much money is left for appeals(if even considered) at the end of April but the process of appeal may take longer than you have to get all the info and make a decision(ie. if you need to follow-up a phone call with a letter).</p>
<p>Do it now. Schools run out of money and while it is true that they might know more about who is and who is not coming closer to May 1, all that was already factored in the awards they made (ie., their expectation of what percentage will accept the awards). And with the final decision date of May 1, they won't really know after that date anyway.</p>
<p>When we asked an adcomm about whether to wait to know all the other offers that might arrive before appealing, we were advised that every day we waited meant less money in the pot, and not to delay at all. This particular school was willing to consider an appeal but had a policy of not matching offers. Schools that do match offers, however, at some point will run out of money too, so I again advise that you do it as soon as you've heard from all your schools and you can make your case.</p>
<p>terrific thread. hope it can help this year's applicants.</p>
<p>so if you were accepted early, would that give you more leverage in recieving more financial aid both need based and merit based?</p>
<p>So what's the best way to approach negotiation? Calling the financial aid office or writing them a letter. Calling is quicker.</p>
<p>would I dare to negotiate with cornell?</p>
<p>do you have new information that they didn't have?
Have your circumstances changed significantly?</p>
<p>I called one school and tried to negotiate the aid package, the lady answered the phone told me right the way - I can appeal by sending them a letter, also copy of another offer we got from other school. I did not even mention that we applied other school. </p>
<p>Up this point, we only received aid package from 2 schools, one private(47K), one state public(19k). Can I use the offer from state school to negotiate?</p>
<p>Negotiating against a state school will get you no where in the process because :</p>
<p>You should compare apples to apples if you want to negotiate aid, it needs to be 2 comprable private schools (comprable in terms of cost, selectivity, student profile, ranking, and maybe even that horrible p word -prestige).</p>
<p>Schools that give need based aid do not negotiate against merit aid packages.</p>
<p>Private schools do not negotiate against public universities especially if that student is in state. As remember the purpose of public universities is to provide an affordable educational option for its residents.</p>
<p>When you compare $19,000 to $47,000 and you are asking for more money you are actually showing them that your that if money is an issue, why look at a school that is over 2x the cost. The school will most likely think that if money is an issue, you should be at your state U (Don't let this website fool you because most students are looking at more "selective" schools as the majority of the students in this country attend state universities).</p>
<p>Sybbie - Thank you for the explaination, it makes a lot of sense. S applied other private schools too, we have not heard the aid package yet. I guess we just have to wait until all the packages come in and compare. I actually think State U is not that bad, S got into Hornor Program, but not so much aid though since our EFC almost same as the cost of the school.</p>
<p>I have a lot of merit aid from a good private safety school (34,000) and no aid from my first choice (also private), which is of a higher caliber than the safety school. How could I go about negotiating or talking to the financial aid people to see if I can get a little bit of money from my first choice? It might help to mention that I got an early-write from my first choice. If that means that they really want me, would they be more willing to negotiate even though my safety school is a lower tier school? How should I word the appeal?</p>
<p>KISS. No sob story's. They've heard it all. Just tell them that you'd like a reconsideration, with documentation of a competitive offer from another school.</p>
<p>College is a seller's market and the seller's market is extremely tight for the supposedly higher-end schools. $34,000/yr does a lot of talking and can save you and parents $ for other things-like yours and parents retirement, house, car, travel, internships, etc. </p>
<p>JIMO.</p>
<p>IF your first choice school gives FA on the basis of need (and the school in question actually does give aid on the basis of need, no academic or athletic scholarships) it is highly unlikely that they are going to negotiate against a package based on merit ( as a practice they do not, as almost every student at the school would be eligible based on merit)</p>