10 Things Financial Aid Offices Won't Say

Dave_Berry · 12-26-2011, 08:05 AM

..."4. "You'll pay dearly for early decision."

Early-decision admission is a big temptation at highly competitive colleges: Students can apply months before other applicants as long as they promise to attend if admitted. There is also early action, which isn't binding. All these are ways to let students tell colleges they really, really want to be [there] ...

Sometimes, though, when it comes to getting financial aid, early decision can backfire. Why? Your commitment to attend if accepted means you have less leverage ...

If scoring financial aid is top priority, you're better off not applying early and applying with the general applicant pool. That's especially the case if your kid's SAT scores and GPA are above the college median, and they excel in extracurricular activities. If such a student applies in the spring and gets admitted, they ll have a better shot at negotiating a strong financial aid package than if they d gone the early-decision route ..."

An interesting article from a year ago.

10 Things Financial Aid Offices Won't Say - SmartMoney.com

fe2011 · 12-26-2011, 01:10 PM

Thanks for sharing this. This exactly reminds me of my financial aid office at my college!

geeps20 · 12-26-2011, 01:16 PM

is there really FA negotiation?

vonlost · 12-26-2011, 03:26 PM

But just so no one thinks they could be "trapped" into attending a school they can't afford, here is the Common App rule for ED financial aid:

Quote:

Should a student who applies for financial aid not be offered an award that makes attendance possible, the student may decline the offer of admission and be released from the Early Decision commitment.

https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/..._Agreement.pdf

ED is meant for your number one top choice school, when you don't care about comparing financial aid packages. If you're asking for financial aid, be prepared to take or leave whatever aid is offered to you; don't expect to negotiate. But at some schools, ED confers some increased chance of admission over RD.

kelsmom · 12-26-2011, 04:58 PM

From a real live financial aid officer:

#1: Aid is limited, and when it's gone, it's gone. I would tell you that.

#2: If you screwed up and didn't catch it, who is supposed to know you did it wrong? I will say that I did catch & fix mistakes during verification, but that didn't always result in more money (see #1). I would tell you that.

#3: That's true. I would tell you that.

#4: Didn't work at that kind of school.

#5: Yep. I would tell you that.

#6: Yep. I would tell you that.

As for #7, it wasn't like I had a choice. If you had room in your cost of attendance, I had to certify your loan. I counseled you against borrowing that much, but in the end, I could not refuse to certify your private loan. Don't blame me when you can't pay it back!

#8: Sometimes true, sometimes not. I worked at a state school, and we didn't have enough money to give you that it would be an issue ... your private scholarships helped you, they didn't hurt you. It's only SOME schools where this is a problem. For most students, it's not.

#9: I would and did review. If we had missed something, your award might be adjusted. If I hadn't missed anything, you wouldn't get more. I had parents write me nasty notes after I reviewed files & awards didn't change. If you want to get money for which you don't qualify, make sure you are talking to a school that actually has money to give away.

#10: School does cost more each year. That's important to understand going in. I would tell you that.

Okay, I don't do financial aid anymore, but when I did ... I was honest. Many, many financial aid officers are honest. What I noticed was that an awful lot of parents didn't listen, unfortunately.

kelsmom · 12-26-2011, 05:33 PM

To make it easier to understand my comments above:

1. "You waited until April? Sorry, we gave your money away."
2. "Your error, your problem."
3. "Our low tuition rate means less financial aid."
4. "You'll pay dearly for early decision."
5. "We're not buying your pauper act."
6. "When it comes to assessing your need, we're not always very sympathetic about your expenses."
7. "We'll let you borrow more than you can afford."
8. "Outside scholarships help us, not you."
9. "We won't 'negotiate,' but we might 'review."
10. "Thought freshman year was expensive? Wait till senior year."

entomom · 12-26-2011, 08:57 PM

Quote:

College financial aid guides have long urged parents to negotiate with aid offices, often suggesting that you bring a better aid offer from a "competing" school to get them to give you more money. But many aid directors hate this tactic. Some schools have strict no-negotiation policies, while others are only a little more approachable.

This article doesn't state the full range of FA reviewing and matching other FA packages. In addition to schools that don't match or are slightly more approachable, some schools regularly match FA offers from peer schools, for instance, D says:

Frequently Asked Questions

Quote:

In many cases, more information from the student or from his/her family, including copies of better packages from other schools, will result in award adjustments consistent with a fair and equitable treatment of all applicants.

bchan1 · 12-27-2011, 04:41 PM

As to negotiation - things do get missed in FA evaluations. I knew 2 students who got very different offers from the same school, the girl with the lower stats was given the higher award. The girl with the lower offer called to question and was reviewed and awarded the higher amount.

If a student is offered very different amounts from similar schools with similar FA stats it is wise to call and ask, with the volume of students applying and the volume of information being processed not making a mistake here and there would be more surprising than finding a few errors.

foolishpleasure · 12-28-2011, 12:07 PM

"As to negotiation - things do get missed in FA evaluations,"

^^ That's sounds more like "review" than "negotiation."

latichever · 12-29-2011, 12:17 AM

The most useful advice to me was to use last year's tax numbers to get the FAFSA out the door as quickly as possible. Previously, I waited for my tax documents at the end of January to do an estimate. Now, I'll get it out next week.

I've played with the calculators and found that income/asset variations by at least as much as 10 percent don't change the EFC much, so I think finaid offices must be comfortable with estimates.

HobeyBaker77 · 01-02-2012, 09:50 PM

11. Our high school counselor told us she has never seen a kid in need of aid admitted from a wait list.

vonlost · 01-02-2012, 10:33 PM

^ It may not be so common, but I've seen it, with aid given.

mazewanderer · 01-03-2012, 12:03 PM

Quote:

1. "You waited until April? Sorry, we gave your money away."
.....
9. "We won't 'negotiate,' but we might 'review."
10. "Thought freshman year was expensive? Wait till senior year."

Carnegie Mellon is I think the one university that openly admits that they will negotiate under certain circumstances. They say review, but the meaning is clear. If you get to MIT or Caltech or Harvard, we may change our offer, but if you get into UC Berkeley, we will not.

Quote:

Practices

We have been open about our willingness to review financial awards to compete with certain private institutions for students admitted under the regular decision plan. Unlike most institutions, the university states these principles openly to those offered first-year admission under the regular decision plan.

BeckyTerrapin · 01-03-2012, 12:05 PM

There's not a negotiation process really for FA, but you can appeal.

Here's more info on how the appeals process works: A Parent's Guide to Appealing Financial Aid

mazewanderer · 01-03-2012, 01:23 PM

I think some of it is semantics. In general, colleges may not sweeten the pot if you have a better offer from another institution. Even if they do, they will not openly admit to competing with another university.

Carnegie Mellon is very open about their willingness to compete with the aid package at another university, but the other university needs to be very prestigious. You could go to CMU and say "I have got into MIT and this is their aid package. If you can do better, then I will take CMU over MIT". May not be that bluntly but they have made their policies clear. If you get a better package from a lower rated university, they will not budge.