My kid was offered a need based package at his first choice school. Has several higher merit based offers at other school. If he could get 10-15 percent more from favorite school he would say yes. Other option is to get a 3/4K loan each year.
It depends. You are comparing apples with oranges. Merit aid is awarded based on the strength of the application…need based based on financial need.
It sounds like you want a school that awarded need based aid to match a merit aid net cost and frankly, I don’t think that is likely to happen.
Are the other colleges considered peer schools with similar merit and need based aid awarding policies, and similar costs?
If you are talking about Florida publics as an out of state student…I wouldn’t hold my breath. Public universities have a mission to support their instate tax paying students, not OOS students. I doubt that you will see much “negotiating” from an OOS public.
Merit aid policies vary from college to college with schools setting their criteria for awarding merit. In addition, the strength of the applicant pool is likely not the same from school to school.
Is there some new achievement that might make the school reconsider their merit award…? If not, on what basis do you want them to reconsider?
Need based aid is based on your financial need…and the awarding policies of the colleges…not on academic merit.
@twoinanddone what do you think…regarding Florida publics and negotiating for more aid to get a lower net cost as an OOS student.
Has full ride offers for National Merit at Florida schools .
All merit scholarships have been awarded at his favorite school. Would have to get small loan.
Does the favorite school’s offer meet your need according to their formula? If so, they’re most likely to wish you luck and offer you information about loans. It usually doesn’t hurt to try, but odds are it won’t help either. (And I have heard of a few instances where a school agreed to “re-evaluate” a financial package and subsequently came back with a worse offer than the original. So, on the off chance that this favorite school is Carnegie Mellon, be aware of this as a known outcome.)
Favorite school is close to meeting need. Still waiting on financial offers from 6-8 more schools. Has a lot of options but will have to decide how important is it to attend favorite school.
For the favorite school…is your student aid package including the Direct Loan? If not…that would cover the difference…
Does not include loan. Thanks
If the favorite school does not already include loans and the needed amount is only $3-4K, I’d leave it on the table to compare with other offers. Depending on your kid’s goals/degree, that might not be an issue. I set the budget at the amount “I” would pay with the stipulation that D could take out the maximum student loans if her choice of schools were a bit more.
Also waiting on a few Boston Schools, UVA and Duke.