<p>I'm a little confused with how this works - we got our FA package like many people we were hoping it was a little better.</p>
<p>We called and spoke to the FA people who asked us to call the head of admissions. Did that and they asked us to call the regional admissions person - did that and have plans to talk again next week.</p>
<p>Does this seem right? Who actually makes the decsion to reconsider a FA package - is it FA, admissions or either/both? Is there any actual criteria or a total crap shoot?</p>
<p>In some cases it seems like people can simply ask and they get a better package which I really don't understand and in other cases you have to submit more information and hope.</p>
<p>Now it seems like admissions has more to say than FA ..... it's so confusing. Can anyone share their experience or suggestions?</p>
<p>According to one director o FA I know, they are so inundated with requests this year they are sending folks back to admissions to get the basic speech on don’t appeal unless your situation has drastically changed and it’s documented. Remember, this year’s aid is based on last year’s income. Even if one parent lost a job this year, most school’s won’t budge until next year.</p>
<p>I’m sure it’s handled differently at different colleges.</p>
<p>We sent a letter to the FinAid department, and a cc copy to the admissions officer that our daughter has had contact with.</p>
<p>Typically the financial aid department will be primarily concerned with special circumstances that may result in a change in NEED-based aid. The admissions office is focusing on getting top students in, yield rate, and such, and may have input on where to apply MERIT aid in order to achieve the best results. So unless directed otherwise, it probably makes sense to cover both bases.</p>
<p>I had contact with a FA office at a LAC and they openly explained to me that applicants are ranked by the admissions office according to their stats and application. If the average applicant has a 1500 (500 across the board) on the SAT, and a 3.0 at this school (not saying those are the only criteria), but your child has a 1800 SAT and a 3.5 you may well get a better financial package than the student with the same efc and lower stats. I did not inquire further about how diversity, ECs factor in. My point is that the financial aid office is told by admissions how much they would like a particular applicant and the FA office is going to reflect that. In this case the two departments are not really seperate, IMO.</p>
<p>What has been most successful for you - calling, visiting or writing a letter? If both FA and admissions are both involved is there any logic as to which department to start with first?</p>