If a rising first year student submits a competing merit award letter from a peer institution, do colleges ever notify that peer institution their offer is being used to negotiate? I am trying to determine whether there is any risk in appealing an institutional merit award.
These are all EA applications, my child did not apply ED anywhere. We have no demonstrated financial need. Purely gunning for merit aid.
First, the school may or may not agree that the one you are considering is to them a peer. Secondly, are you prepared to accept the school’s admission if they increase their award?
To answer your question, no - you’re not at risk. It likely happens all the time.
Don’t forget, merit in and of itself, isn’t the key but cost of attendance is - or at least tuition.
If one school is $50k and another $40k, there’s a different cost basis. So you wouldn’t expect merit to be equal.
Publics will likely say no - policy based.
Privates may have a little more wiggle room.
Interestingly, if you don’t commit to a school, some will up awards come March / April - they need butts in seat.
Your plan is unlikely to work but respectfully asking won’t hurt. But if you get more, or the amount you request and you don’t commit if you get it, it’s a bad look - although you may not care.
I wouldn’t worry about other schools at all. And I would make sure the comparing school is at least a sub and not a lower level.
Asking U Chicago to match Brandeis is silly. Asking Brandeis to match Wheaton, also silly.
But if you don’t ask, you can’t get a yes. So you can always ask. The worst someone will say is no.
No, not ready to accept on the spot. Instead wondering what the bottom line is for the top few schools so C25 can make an educated decision. But, we’d like to do admitted student weekends regardless, so sounds like the merit appeal should wait until kiddo is ready to commit.
Thank you for this thoughtful response.
Any other peer schools likely to offer merit? Maybe a better comparison will happen.
They all offered their posted maximum auto-considered merit (these are not T-20 type schools) but the bottom line is not the same.
I used the Chronicle of Higher Ed tool to gauge which schools each feels are peers, but I don’t know how reliable that is.
Can you name the school you’d counter and the school you’d use ?
Or look up peer schools via google using this term.
Wake forest peer schools
If it’s a public with a table, there’s likely zero to very little chance - they have the tables for a reason.
I’d rather not name names, but they are private schools in the 150-200 range according to US News & World Report. I’m not finding they list their peers on their websites. None are as selective as Wake’s list of peers.
Thanks again for your reply. I do appreciate the help!
I agree that if you aren’t ready to finalize a decision, you don’t have to ask for the reconsideration just yet, especially if some other schools may come in with merit money. That said, sometimes when the money is all doled out, there is no more to give. So you don’t have to wait until spring to ask. Is the school a top choice? If so, you can word it diplomatically that school x has offered a merit award of y, and if the school would kindly reconsider an adjustment to the merit award to align with the competing offer, this would greatly assist your child’s decision with a more manageable financial obligation, as their school is one of her top choices (I haven’t had my morning coffee yet, so that’s just an off the top of my head rough rambling). Hope that helps.
Thank you for these links & your recommendations!
I worked in financial aid and did these asking-for-more dances with students. When working with the student, I focused on the net cost that the student would pay at the other school compared with our school. I would have students tell me that School A gave them a half tuition scholarship. So I would show them the net cost at that school and the net cost at our school. Often, the net cost at our school was actually the same or lower. Students need to focus on what they will have to pay, rather than the amount of the merit award.
I agree that you should wait a bit, until you hear from other schools. I didn’t always have additional aid I could give (none at public schools). When I did, though, I had a pool of money I could work with to secure enrollment. If I received a request, I had to determine how much it benefited our school to have this student enroll … to put it bluntly, how much we wanted them. If we really wanted them, I would try hard to make it work, within the parameters of my budget. I sometimes asked point blank how much they needed … just tell me, and I’ll tell you if that’s even possible. And if it wasn’t, I would let them know what I could actually do for them.
As for asking, I would never have discussed the ask with any other schools … and I would never have held it against a student that they asked. But I did have to say no sometimes.
Thank you, thank you, for your thorough explanation. This is exactly the advice I needed and I’ve been lurking on CC long enough to know you’re the authority on paying for college! I truly appreciate knowing how a merit appeal is viewed and handled from the other side of the desk and the reassurance that an appeal won’t get back to the school that offered more.
The smaller the school the better the result. University of Michigan won’t care and will tell you congratulations from the other school offer but small Lacs will talk to you. As stated it’s all how bad they want /need you. It’s early but never too early to let them know your interested but… Having real interest is key.
Once merit was gone we asked for a discount on housing and were given that for our daughter. We didn’t care where the money was discounted from. It’s the end number anyway. As stated it doesn’t make a difference the amount of merit if you can’t afford the end result. Colleges want your butt in their seats. Remember that. Lol.
It is common for parents to ask peer colleges if they can increase an award. Peer being key. If it’s Podunk U, a much better college is very unlikely to increase the award. And I do think that regarding money matters, it’s typically best for the parent to do the negotiating.
Email the admissions office and provide proof of the competing offer. Merit awards are given by admissions, not the FA office. Ask if they can increase their offer, making clear that the college is the top choice and your child will attend if the award is improved. You can ask here if the colleges under consideration are peer schools.
Is the Chronicle of Higher Education tool a reliable source for determining peer schools?
https://www.chronicle.com/article/who-does-your-college-think-its-peers-are
If you want to dm me the schools - just click on my name - I can take a look and try to assess for you.
Thx.
Does your student have all the acceptance and financial aid award decisions from schools they applied to? When is the deadline to commit to school(s) in question? I would recommend waiting and making sure institutions are truly comparable - in the same tier.
D23 qualified for a modest fin aid package from an Ivy and we were able to get a match from another Ivy, but the difference between the two was not dramatic to start with. You will not be punished for negotiating - it is normal practice, just be ready to support your reasoning.
Yes…the Chronicle’s source is each college’s self selected set of peers. With that said, some colleges select some peers that are….aspirational 
Totally aspirational! But I like the tool also shows which schools choose eachother.