As many of us are embarking in the appeals process it might be helpful to see what others were offered at the same school.
feel free to add what you have to this thread:
Acceptance Thread for Class of ‘30 Undergrad/’28 Grad Music Majors
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I emailed admission and they said all financials were included in acceptance.
Ours aren’t. It still shows our financial aid is in “review”.
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I think my kid emailed every school or appropriate faculty.
How do you guys handle appeals?
Do you work on one appeal at a time bringing it down to what you are comfortable paying at said school? Or do appeal all schools you are considering all at once? My daughter has 4 schools she will want to appeal. Or does she start with her #1 choice (if she even has a #1 choice)?
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The appeal process can be slow so you need to do them all at one time. Some schools have a formal process so check online before sending an email. I know there are different views on this, I started the process not my son. If we don’t get the amount we are looking for or if there is prolonged silence, he will then follow up with a last effort email and then we move on. I am sure others have done it differently, but this is where we felt most comfortable. We did two appeals, one college came back immediately with “we don’t do appeals, we give you best and final up front.” The other is a waiting game for now.
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I’ve scoured the U Mich-SMTD website and cannot find a formal process. This may be an indictment on my fact-finding abilities though.
Is my intel correct or does anyone have a different, formalized experience? My daughter is simply sending her appeal to the “Assistant Dean of Admissions, Financial Aid & Enrollment Management” from whom she received her initial decision of (non) aid.
There is an appeal process for UMich. When I got my funding offer ($0) there was a link in the email to submit an appeal.
I also got another separate email with a link to appeal after I talked to the professor. The professor recommended I appeal and I think they sent a note to admissions.
The professor said that she doesn’t have any say in how the money is given out, it is managed by admissions. When someone declines a merit offer, that money goes into a big pool not to the “next person”.
I would email admissions and your professor ASAP and ask for a link to submit an appeal.
Thanks!
That is a completely different interface than what my daughter received.
I did, however, reach out to see if that link could be provided, and if not for someone to whom I can most effectively make my appeal.
I don’t know if there is enough time before the commit date; so I probably would fire off appeals requests in parallel.
In the end, however, we only chose to appeal at a single school, our daughter’s top choice. Most of the merit was roughly in the same range†; so it wasn’t going to be a make or break situation. In some cases, the merit reconsideration for undergrads doesn’t begin until after an April 15 graduate student commit date, which further compresses the process.
† Well, with the exception of one school everyone is talking about that offered $0.
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Just stress posting that I’m amazed at how tight the turnaround is for MM programs. He still doesn’t really have full financial info from most of the schools (and the one he does he needs to appeal), and he’s supposed to decide by April 15. One school has told him twice now that he’ll hear “very soon.” The first time they said it was a week and a half ago. ARGH.
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It is most helpful to be as specific in your appeal as possible. The process can be easier if you have one school you’re focusing on. I think the best strategy is to let them know they are absolutely the first choice, and you’re ready to commit if you can get ‘X’ $ amount. Be very clear about the desire to commit, but have that very specific dollar amount in mind you need to make it happen. It makes negotiating transparent and easier.
Be crystal clear about why your top choice is tops for you.
Having documentation showing that you have better financial offers at comparable institutions is so helpful! (The key word here is comparable institutions). Send the receipts showing the validity of other offers if you have them.
And the things posted on the boards are true about more money coming available the longer you can wait, as students forgo scholarships to attend other places.
Keep your studio prof in the loop because they can sometimes add their voice to yours.
Bottom line, though, is that it doesn’t hurt to ask for more, it just adds another layer of torture to the process because it will take time.
Edited to add: You can make a deposit at a school while continuing to negotiate with another.
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In case there’s any future students lurking on this thread - not sure where to put this - but this just popped for me locally.
It may be of interest to someone out there.
A student would obviously need a parent to come/hotel/feed - but tons for the parents to do while class is in session as Frankliin and Nashville are both tourist meccas.
Not sure where the right place is to post but - if it helps someone.
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Did you receive this email with the link this year (like 3 days ago?).
Our email looks like yours. No link given. I’m a little worried about the April 6 deadline mentioned in the letter with the link. I would like to enjoy my weekend and deal with this next week, but will that be too late?
Yes, I received the email on 3-24-26
I’m applying for mm in composition so it might be different for undergrad applicants….
Thank you! Hoping the BM vs MM is the reason for the difference. Either way, I will email Monday about the process and/or a link.
I’m not standing in a place where I can send it right now, but I was sent a link upon request, with a UG deadline of 4-20. So it looks like they are processing the MM’s first (???).
It says they review appeals 5-10 days before May 1, so it looks like the appeal comes back bw 4-21 and 4-26.
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I appreciate you doing this intel and sharing all this info. Thank you!
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No problem!
But you’ll need to solicit it directly from your admissions representative. When I opened the link it was pre populated with my DD’s information.
And please wait until my 100k merit appeal successfully goes through! 
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