When asking for more merit aid, is it best for the parent or the student to email? Any other advice such as what to include?
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The student.
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You need to include any new accomplishments that would actually make you eligible for additional merit aid.
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My son asked for more merit from one of the schools on his short list. He got another $5k/year. Not common but it can happen if you have the stats and a school wants you to attend. He didn’t attend.
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The student should email. If true (never lie!), the student should say that cost is a factor, and other peer schools the student was accepted to and seriously considering, are cheaper. Name the peer schools.
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So helpful, thanks for this thread!
I would stress that the college your requesting more aid from is where you really want to be. If you have other cheaper options, I would mention that only g-e-n-t-l-y. If you treat them like you want a price match at the Costco, it will go over like a lead zeppelin.
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Yes. If you ask for more money make sure the school is in your top 2 or 3 schools. Also, don’t expect much if anything. $2-3k is probably best case. I was shocked when my son got another $5k.
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This is super helpful! I emailed one school asking for additional merit and got a solid No - wishing now that my kid had emailed! (We assumed the parent should since we are paying…)
Don’t beat yourself up, it’s ok for the parents to contact AOs about merit…the answer is no a lot of times!
And IMO it’s better for parents than students to contact FA when talking about getting more need-based aid (of course some students can handle it, but generally parents have a deeper understanding of their financial situation).
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I definitely second the parents reaching out for more need-based aid. I’ve called and emailed financial aid at multiple colleges and they are always fine with talking to me rather than the student.
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Mayland- unless your kid was going to be able to say (and mean it) “You are my first choice and with an extra $2K I’m prepared to commit” (or whatever the number is) I don’t believe it makes a difference who does the ask.
In cases where I’ve even this work, it was the parent who handled it. And it wasn’t an e-mail; it was a conversation over the phone. Some parents are particularly good at this when they are experienced negotiators.
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Honestly, I was thinking I could be much more articulate about this than my son.
Probably…perhaps help him craft the email? Then if there is a follow up call you could both join?
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Thank you all. We’re new to this and have researched the topic a lot. I kept reading the student (even though ours isn’t even 18 yet)! We have hopes (slim we realize) for more merit aid at 1 of his top 3. Other two haven’t awarded yet. And, we have significant $ change in circumstances. Ultimately, he crafted a letter (with parent bullet points to include) to his #1 choice and stated he was attaching further information, which was all of the factors in detail from us/parents). We will also follow up. And take all of this info. into consideration regarding the other two schools before contacting. Much appreciated!
Dollar changes typically don’t affect merit awards. Dollar changes affect need based awards.
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Agree with thumper…you would be asking for more need based aid in this case, so you need to talk with financial aid, not admissions. Parents can do that without the student.
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You need a Professional Judgement review if your circumstances have materially changed. This is not going to be a merit award discussion, this will be with Financial Aid…
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I handled it for my daughter because 1) she asked me to (she’d just turned 17, really had no idea how the money would all come together) and 2) she was in school during the hours the FA/Admissions offices were open and cell coverage at her school was pretty bad (on purpose as they didn’t want kids on their phones).
The school didn’t mind at all. The request for more merit was really a request to see if the amount we got was correct. It wasn’t as they’d used the wrong test score so fixing it was easy.
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