yes, write a letter to your regional rep explaining your situation and if you have any recent accomplishments include it. then ask for an appeal for merit aid…which is easier to get …also if you got merit aid from another college mention that as well
“Do you think how much student loan debt at graduation is not too much?”
I might be a bit more cautious that some people. On the other hand, this caution has kept me and our children out of some difficulties.
If you are in a major that will lead to a job right after graduation (computer science, nursing, …) then I would be very careful to keep the total loans over four years to be less than your expected starting salary. I would be much more comfortable with a total debt that is less than half of your starting salary. Also, it would be highly desirable to keep your loans to the federally subsidized amounts, which as someone pointed out above comes to something like $27,000 total over a full four years of university. Anything more that this is IMHO too much.
If you are in a major that does not lead to a job right after graduation, then I think that you need to try very hard to avoid loans if there is any possible way to do this.
One of my daughters graduated university nearly a year ago with no debt. She was able to take a job over the summer that she loved and that was great experience for what she wants to do going forward, but that did not pay very well. The only reason that she was able to do this is because she had no debt. Summer ended and she got a more permanent job. It pays barely well enough for her to live on her own. If she had any debt she would be living with us (her parents) and would have needed to find a job near our home. It is only dumb luck that there happen to be appropriate jobs within a reasonable commute of our house. Because she has no debt she is able to live on her own in her own apartment in a different state (she does have good friends where she is).
Somewhere above on this thread it is looking like you might be thinking of taking on $25,000 per year of debt, or $100,000 total if it takes you four years to graduate. This is way, way too much debt. This is a huge risk.
One thing that I have seen in a few cases (one case being someone I knew, a couple other cases were on CC): It is possible to get part way through your degree and then find that you are no longer able to borrow enough money to continue your education. This can be very bad. It can result in your having a large education debt but not having any university degree. You want to make sure that this does not happen.
One friend of a daughter was a very good student in high school, but her family ran into some problems. She could not afford to attend the universities that she was accepted to. She went to community college for two years, picking a college that was relatively close to her father’s home so that she could live there. She did very well and got a merit scholarship to transfer after two years to a local in-state public university. Again this is close enough to home to commute. She is now doing very well in a practical major (it will lead to a good job) and will graduate with only very little debt. I happened to run into her a couple of months ago in a store near here and was very impressed with how she is doing. I am sure that her father is very proud of her. I certainly would be.
Most students find that financial reality is a very significant constraint on where they can afford to go to university. This is reality. This is part of becoming a responsible adult. Sometimes it is the parents who have to act as the “adults in the room” and point out to a child that we cannot afford particular schools.
One thing that I have heard and that makes sense to me: For most aspects of dealing with universities and negotiating with universities, the student should take the lead and parents should be in the background. The one exception is when it comes to negotiating financial aid. It is generally assumed that the student goes to university and the parents pay. Either can attempt to negotiate over financial aid. When dealing with a school it is important to remain calm and polite at all times, and be aware that the person that you are talking to almost certainly does not have the authority to give you more money – all they can do it listen to what you say, be polite themselves, and pass your information back to the people who make the decision. Whether they can give you any more money is unknown but not very likely.
The odds are high that you will need to decline admission, but it does not hurt to ask. You will want to make sure that if they do come back with enough aid to make this school affordable that the aid will continue for four years. If the aid is only for the first year it is going to be more painful to be in this same situation a year from now after completing a year of university.
Also be aware that the majority of university students do not succeed in graduating within four years. I actually lied a bit when I told our daughters what the budget would be and told them a number that would not have resulted in a disaster if they had required five years to graduate.
As others have mentioned , you can ask but expect that the FA office will not really move the needle a lot and it sound like you need it to move a ton, expecting instate tuition for OOS is not gonna happen , esp if you di don’t apply for aid until after acceptance. It really comes down to numbers can you afford to take on 50-65 K in debt along with your child taking on 27K in debt, keep in mind colleges raise their tuition every year. If you can not and there is nothing wrong with that answer by the way, you and your child find a better option instate. Someone suggested tossing out your Childs stats and state and we could crowdsource some suggestions.
Just reiterating the information. No because that school needs your money and may be partially the reason your child was accepted.
When you apply to an OOS public university, you have to realize that the school is funded by tax dollars. Those taxes come from the people of that state who have been paying state taxes for years.
When your child applies to these OOS publics, it’s with the knowledge that your family will be paying full fees for all four years. It is a 'cash cow" for those schools.
Should one contact financial or admissions office for asking for merit-based scholarships after admission?
Usually merit awards are the admissions office. Need based are the financial aid office.
If you are not sure, email both.