<p>i went up to rochester on friday for the first time and spoke to a lady in the financial aid office. she said they would send me a respone in 24 to 48 hours after they got my official appeal. i sent it out today, so ill probably know by mid week.</p>
<p>My appeal worked MAGNIFICENTLY! Almost 2 times the aid!</p>
<p>wow...awesome...what did u do? just a letter or did you put other stuff like numbers and stuff?</p>
<p>My dad sent a letter, my final total aid package was just under 20k</p>
<p>awesome...congrats! lol...what did ur dad write about?</p>
<p>Well I won't go into details but he gave arguments for both need and merit aid increases, and I got both.</p>
<p>Also I don't know if this has anything to do but he delivered it personally when we went 2 visit, I got my answer a week later...</p>
<p>Now I'm deciding between Rochester, Case Western, and UMCP. I'm going to major in Economics with more emphasis on the business aspect (so if I got to Rochester I'll take courses at Simon and do the management certificate w/ a focus on Finance)...Having a tough time deciding</p>
<p>WOW, what could you do to increase your merit aid? simply send them a letter? did you send them a new transcript or award certificate?</p>
<p>I sort of asked about increasing merit aid also since I explained that another school gave me more merit aid by a few thousand per year...I was sort of asking for any kind of increase, but the difference in financial package between that I indicated was there. Anyway, the counselor said he'd forward it to the Scholarship Committee and they'd look at it and probably forward it on to Financial Aid, but that they try not to compare merit aid packages between schools. </p>
<p>This is phrased so badly but I'm way too tired to even reread it. I'll tell you guys what happens.</p>
<p>i got a small raise around 2k. Still not sure if going down 36k a year is worth it.</p>
<p>I don't think it is, thats 144k when you graduate, way too steep</p>
<p>I appealed and my aid package was improved pretty substantially.</p>
<p>When did you appeal?</p>
<p>I talked to someone in the finaid office when I was in Rochester on Friday. I'm not sure that my aid would have improved, but when I got home, I discovered that I was a National Merit Scholar, so I emailed the head of financial aid and explained, and my aid package was adjusted.</p>
<p>do you think its too late to appeal now?</p>
<p>and also how do u appeal..do u write them a letter or do you call them? which one works more effectively?</p>
<p>@starlight, in terms of appealing it may be a little too late since the deposit deadline is less than a week away. However if you have already sent in your deposit and just want a better package, then definately appeal. I wrote a letter of appeal to the Scholarship Committee and Financial Aid Committee in MS Word and attached to an email and sent it to them, and my mom faxed a copy of the letter to their office as a backup. Once they recieved it, they told me they'd respond in 5-7 business days. I suggest you call and write, but a formal letter of appeal is required for any adjustments to take place. Good Luck</p>
<p>^ That's what I'm doing. I'm happy with the financial aid I got and I love UofR so I'm sending in my deposit and enrollment form tomorrow. I wrote a letter to the Financial Aid Office that I'm sending tomorrow also. It's because my mom is not going to have a job soon so I thought that would fall under "special circumstances."</p>
<p>congrats hysteron...what did the rest of u appeal? i'm appealing about the financial support we have to give my grandfather, etc....u know...stuff in india, etc.hopefully it works out...i badly need money...</p>
<p>I faxed my letter yesterday. They said they would try to give me back a decision by Friday.</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone who's appealed to financial aid. I really hope that everything works out, and that I see you in Rochester next year! :)</p>