Interesting conversation with Admissions Office

musicprnt
Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:50:59 +0000

I am hearing more and more that this is true of a lot of colleges at all levels. Many colleges (not all, but many) seem to be doing the same thing companies do with job offers, they offer the minimum amount they think the candidate will accept, and then if the candidate isn’t happy negotiate the amount up. The idea is obviously to ‘get the candidate as cheaply as possible’.

With colleges, they basically are doing the same thing with aid.With tuition being so high, most schools are being forced to offer more aid, and they are trying to keep it down, so they won’t offer what they consider the ‘limit’ in many cases.

There are exceptions, some schools (including some music conservatories) are notorious for giving what they will give, and that is it.But for most schools, might be worth a phone call to see if they can go any higher. And though financial aid is generally based on need alone, at least in theory, if they have a candidate they think highly of, they may be willing to be more flexible if aid is the determining factor.

That is what I have heard from around and about, hope it helps.