- Should my son contact his AO to discuss his options … he 100% would go if we could get a little more help merit wise or institutional aid.
your son can certainly reach out to admissions about his merit award and ask if there is potential for additional merit aid
- My husband primarily handles our finances so should he contact FA upfront to discuss the situation. We have not received a FA package yet.
it is fine for your son and husband to contact the financial aid office together to discuss potential need based aid.
- Should he be upfront with what we need to make this work financially?
you can…but since this is an EA decision, is your son willing to commit to enrolling if the money improves?
Also, keep this in mind…you will likely need to do this same song and dance for at least need based financial aid every year.
But yes…it’s fine to reach out…I would start by asking when need based aid awards are being sent. You might want to wait and see what happens with that first.
Good luck…I hope this all works out.