<p>If a student is accepted to two ivy league universities (or comparable ones such as Hopkins, Brandeis, Maryland Honors orRutgers Honors), and receives a better financial aid package from one than the other, can you negotiate with the Ivy League aid office you got less money from, saying that you want to go to their school but won't be able to unless they give you more money, as another university did??? </p>
<p>This specifically applies for me to negotiating with the Yale financial aid office, as I have been accepted early action.</p>
<p>hey! I'm in the same situation (my financial aid package blew...)
My interviewer called me to congratulate me and I discussed the financial aid issue ... she said that if you get into an "equally competitive" school and get a better package, you can compromise with them / show them the other offer and they will most likely alter their package to meet the other.</p>
<p>Don't know how true it is, or for what schools this applies to
(my guess? Harvard, Princeton, etc.) =) </p>
<p>My son was accepted at two Ivies (Brown, Princeton), and also at Williams and Swarthmore. He got MUCH better financial offers from Carleton and Harvey Mudd, and had essentially a free ride at RPI.</p>
<p>We tried to use the Carleton offer (particularly) and the Harvey Mudd scholarship as leverage with other schools. The response we got from the Ivies and Swarthmore was pretty much: "Hey, great offers... Take them if you can't resist, and best wishes."</p>
<p>I cannot be sure, but in any case I would be shocked (although pleasantly so) to discover that Yale would group Maryland Honors or Rutgers Honors as "comparable institutions/equally competitive schools." It goes beyond the question of whether these schools offer an educational experience that Yale would see as "equal" to its own... The issue is that the Yale "comparable institutions" disclaimer pretty much means that Yale will not compete with schools that are deliberately sweetening their deals in order to attract top students.</p>
<p>In other words: The policy/theory of the Ivies is that they do not give merit scholarships. (In practice, there are a couple of teensy and interesting loopholes, but very, very few.) They know perfectly well that Rutgers Honors is offering a great financial aid package to targeted applicants because many top students would not likely otherwise consider that school. That's merit aid. The Ivies do not compete with merit aid offers. (And, hence, that's HOW Rutgers Honors can continue to poach some of the top students who would otherwise enroll at HYPMS. Rutgers makes all things NOT equal.)</p>
<p>The sad, unfortunate truth is that when the typical admittee tells a super-selective school that he or she would like to enroll, but doesn't agree with the school's calculation of financial need (i.e., cannot afford the school), the usual response of the super-selective institution is: "Well, never mind. We have a long waiting list..."</p>
<p>However, "your mileage may vary." (And we can always hope that it does!)</p>
<p>Basically H/P, that's it. But they'll happily replace you with an equally desirable admittee who has no problems paying list price. Superstars get extra attention.</p>
<p>I have a friend at Yale who flat out told them that he needed more financial aid or he absolutely would not be able to attend, and they helped him out as much as he needed!</p>
<p>Perhaps Princeton is more accomodating, because a friend of mine used the package Harvard offered him as leverage for a full ride at princeton</p>