<p>Has anyone successfully appealed the amount of their MERIT aid? Bad idea to show them merit offer from AU?</p>
<p>AU & GW are not comparable schools so I’m not sure what that would accomplish.</p>
<p>Ok I’ll leave that out then</p>
<p>What are “comparable schools”? Would showing GW the amount you got at an Ivy League be okay?</p>
<p>It’s almost impossible to appeal merit aid. They look at a lot of students and compare them. It’s a total different ball game compared to need based aid. You could try, but it might be best to be happy with what they gave you.</p>
<p>Iceberg, Ivies do not give merit money. They give need money.</p>
<p>I think they based their merit aid on EFC based on what I’ve been seeing.</p>
<p>@schmohawk</p>
<p>Yes, I know. I’m talking about comparing how much Need Based Aid GW gives and how much Need Based Aid the Ivies give. Do you think using the amount of Need Based Aid an Ivy gives to negotiate with GW would be okay? Or, are these schools not “comparable”?</p>
<p>Yes, I hear people do negotiate need based aid. But if you got better need based aid from an Ivy, why would you?</p>
<p>Njmom, I dont agree. I got a big merit scholarship, and would not have qualified for any need based aid.</p>
<p>I think there are some merit scholarships that only go to students who also have financial need.</p>
<p>i’d wait to see your need based aid first…</p>
<p>Would it be safe to say GWU and NYU are comparable?</p>
<p>GWU and NYU are about as comparable as GWU and AU- I’m not sure what the guy above was implying.</p>
<p>This is not like a car dealership. No matter what college you say and try to appeal, it won’t work. Less than 5% of the colleges in U.S. let you try to appeal merit amount. And GW is not one of them.</p>
<p>What are you basing this on?</p>
<p>Congrats to your son/daughter for getting in njmom! I appealed my merit amount (or lack there of) last year when I got in and sent them copies of my scholarships from comparable colleges as well as higher ranked in-state ones. While they did NOT give me an automatic offer of a merit scholarship the financial aid office was extremely helpful in helping me find university affiliated scholarships I could apply for that ultimately allowed me to afford the school. </p>
<p>If you are already getting something from GW it’s unlikely that they’ll give you more but it can’t hurt to try and contact someone in an effort to work with financial aid on you package. If you do contact them I would suggest alerting them to any financial changes in your family since applying as well as expressing your interest in the university (this should come from your child not you however). Hope that helps and congrats!</p>
<p>Awkturtle - do you recommend email or snail mail?</p>
<p>I don’t think it makes a difference. I believe I simply sent an e-mail with a letter attached. Snail mail may be nicer in that it shows more efforts but it also is slower.</p>