<p>I recieved a 40k scholarship from a school that I don't really intend on attending. Obviously, I want to free up the money for a student who <em>wants</em> to go School B.</p>
<p>However, while thinking about myself and MY possible debts for the next 4 years, can I use this scholarship as 'leverage' to get the school I intend to go to, School A, to give me more Financial aid and scholarship $?</p>
<p>School A and School B ARE competitive with one another, and in my initial interview (Before I submitted my application to school A) I mentioned it was the other school I was heavily considering. </p>
<p>Is there a tactful way to call up and say 'Hi, School B gave me more money, and my family is kind of pressed for finances, so uh.. I may need to withdraw my statement of intent to attend if I don't get equal or, favorably, more money from School A..'</p>
<p>You can try. DD applied to two colleges that very often share applicants, have very similar demographics, and have similar costs. One school was willing to "discuss" their finaid award, and the other absolutely would not. It depends on the school.</p>
<p>I applied to School A under a 'select early action' plan, which was made available to about 125 students out of an alleged 3,000. (It's an art school, so the 3,000 was students whose portfolios they'd reviewed)</p>
<p>I signed a letter of intent since I didn't think I'd get such a large scholarship from School B (Total suprise) and because school A is historically, very generous with FA and S$. Also, limited housing. </p>
<p>The contract, however, is not final and the deposit can be refunded (I have a copy, it spells it out in fine print)</p>
<p>If school "B" gave you a scholarship based on merit and school "A" only gives need based financial aid, then you are not going to have any leveraging power because schools that give aid strictly on need (the ivies, elite lacs) don't give merit money nor will they "negotiate" or give a financial review based on the fact that you got merit money from another school.</p>
<p>Even with if you are leveraging merit vs. merit, it still depends on the critieria for receiving the merit. If you got merit money based on your art ability and school "A" only gives equivalent merit to only the top 1% of the applicant pool based on strictly on academics with a defined threshold (SATs of ____ and a GPA of ______) if you are not bringing that criteria to the table, you will not have much leveraging power because your schools are basing their merit on 2 different criteria.</p>
<p>In addition, yes, you must read the "fine print". Is the scholarship automatically renewable so that you receive the same merit money year over year?</p>
<p>Is there a GPA requirement to keep the aid? Is there a phase in requirement? What happens if you have a slide in grades?</p>
<p>Overall this is something that you and your family will have to sit down and discuss as your parents may be of the mind set as to why would you give up $40k (is this a year or over the course of 4 years) so that they can pay the saem 40k out of pocket (especially if they do not have the $$).</p>
<p>one of the best ways to leverage is to avoid the fin aid office...if you know the chair of the dept you're going into, and he really wants you as a student, make sure he knows about your other offer...if he's got any power, he can convince the office that you're worth it. use your connections.</p>
<p>I totally disagree with Zel's assessment as the financial aid office makes the final decisions on how money will be allocated. Unless the second school mas a major endowment, in your major (and you would have probably gotten an invitation to apply for a scholarship) and funds scholarships in that major (which are still administered through the financial aid office), you are wasting your time trying to circumvent the process. </p>
<p>Also keep in mind that schools build classes. If you looking to leverage at a shcool that is not looking to build up their art department, then your having a art scholarship is of no value to them.</p>
<p>We let the schools we were interested in know the offers. Cards on the table so to speak. </p>
<p>It is then up to the school to decide to change or not change their offer. Where mine ended up, I guess they really wanted her because they did change their offer considerably. </p>
<p>I almost wonder if the scholarship difference is big that you would have a better chance. I mean a thousand or so, might not make a school budge. </p>
<p>In our case.."We really would like D to go here, but $20,000 extra is a lot to overlook.." in 24 hours the 20k difference was eliminated. </p>
<p>There's no perfect way to do anything and no garantees the outcome will be what you want. The best advice is not to settle on one school as "it." That way your best choice will always be the one you choose.</p>
<p>In many schools, the financial aid office does not control the merit money. It can be major depts, honors programs, admissions staff, etc. It might be the financial aid office but who knows. We found the local admissions rep helpful in determining a good place to start regarding merit offers. It was different for each school and the types of monies they have.</p>