<p>Do you think it would be a bad idea to mention another school in an appeal letter in which the tuition is way more affordable and that we also put in a deposit? I’m afraid that if I mention the other school that they would think that I should just go to that other school, so they won’t give me more money. But my initial thought was that it would scare them, in a way, into giving my more money since they see that I have another, more affordable option. What do you guys think? Mention it or don’t mention it?</p>
<p>Is the other college a peer college? In other words, is it a comparable school in terms of competitiveness, acceptance rate, and the type of college? If you have put in a deposit at a regional public institution that gave you a full ride, and you want a private, more competitive school to match the bottom line, you might not get anywhere.</p>
<p>But if the schools are peer schools (e.g. Yale/Harvard, Amherst/Williams) a higher offer from a peer school can help you ask for reconsideration.</p>
<p>It is kind of late in the year to be trying to do this. You aren’t really supposed to double deposit (at least not enrollment deposits, housing deposits are a different story), and you run the risk of losing your spot at either school if the other one finds out. So I don’t see how you can effectively try to play one financial aid offer off against another. The time to try this is before May 1… Even before May 1, it isn’t necessarily going to work. Only if the school you are saying is cheaper is truly comparable (or higher ranked) than the school you are approaching to you have any chance of success. And now you just look dishonest to them for having double deposited… it probably won’t work. </p>
<p>@thumper1 I see, but will it hurt me to mention it? </p>
<p>@intparent well we literally just got our package. Don’t ask my why… it’s a long story. </p>
<p>@intparent But I see what you’re saying about the risk of losing my spot. I had no clue, thanks. </p>
<p>But the first school where you deposited does not care… so if you double deposited, and the first school (which I assume gave you an earlier package) finds out you did, they still will not be happy.</p>
<p>Is the school that just gave you the package (that I assume you want to attend?) comparable to the other school? Similar ranking, one is not in-state public vs. OOS or private?</p>
<p>I believe you do not want to disclose that you double deposited… That is a big no-no! Technically, both schools could rescind…it’s not often done but why go there?</p>
<p>Okay thanks guys! I’m not gonna mention it. I’m just gonna say that I do not want to have to transfer out of the school, even though I really don’t want to, if worse comes to worse. Harmless enough? </p>
<p>I don’t think that will get you more financial aid. Unless you can provide some additional information they did not have before (large family medical bills? loss of job for a parent since paperwork was submitted?), just asking for more money won’t get you anything.</p>
<p>@intparent Oh! There is MUCH more. This is about 5% of my appeal. </p>
<p>Well… a very wordy appeal isn’t necessarily going to get you more, either. You need hard financial facts that are the kinds of things that affect the school’s calculation of your aid. Examples of things that do NOT sway them:
- High family debt (credit card, mortgage, whatever – they don’t care)
- Siblings with private school expenses
- Parents who can’t qualify for private loans
- Future expectations that savings in the bank (or income) will be needed for other things.
- The fact that you can’t really afford to pay what they want you to pay. Especially if it is not one of the small number of schools that say they “meet need”, they expect to “gap” you. So they will expect you to pay more than you can from savings, parental income, your work and federal loans. Even schools that meet need do it with THEIR definition of need, not yours.</p>
<p>The small number of things I can think of that can result in increased aid:
- As I said above, medical expenses or a job situation change for a parent since you applied for aid
- I know of a case where a kid had a trust, but legally couldn’t access it until age 25. The school took that asset off the table as a student asset once they understood the legal situation.</p>
<p>You are also asking late for a change (money is pretty much allocated out for next year).</p>
<p>Double depositing is against the rules of the common application, is it not? So bringing it up to try to get more money can be an issue as you could lose admissions to them. Some schools (CMU, for example) will drop you if they find out you did this.</p>
<p>If you are trying to get more money out of the school that just finally came up with a package for you, you can tell the school, that because this had taken so much time to resolve that you have committed to another school with a better package, and that it would take more than what they are offering for you to switch. Unless there is some really valid reason that this fin aid package took so long to put together, that if it is paltry compared to the other school, you should drop them. It’s often a sign that you will have continuing problems with your aid packages in future years, when something is so off.</p>
<p>@intparent Yeah, I didn’t really put any of those things. The only one of those I put kind of was the bank/private loans thing, just because my parents credit is VERY bad. But the school is EXTREMELY flexible when it comes to lateness. I was even surprised that someone of our income was able to get the aid we did, but this school was able to pull through for me. But they already told me that I can still appeal but I will probably get an answer a little bit after I move in and they will just refund us whatever we have paid. So, yeah, I’m really lucky when it comes to the school and their flexibility. </p>
<p>@cptofthehouse Yeah, we just got our package early this week, but I already sent the appeal so I couldn’t add what you said :(. Thanks though. </p>
<p>Mountlover, if you already sent your appeal in, then it doesn’t really matter what we say here regarding what should or shouldn’t go in the appeal letter.</p>
<p>And if you plan to enroll in the college with the hope of a positive appeal, then it sounds like you can attend this college even IF additional aid is not forthcoming.</p>
<p>And lastly, you say you got a good amount if aid given your family income.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what more you hope to gain. </p>
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<p>I am confused by this. Are you saying the aid was higher than you expected given your family income and savings? Then they likely won’t increase it… Or are you saying you are surprised you got the loans you did in your package already given your parents’ poor credit? Those are likely federal loans, and your parents’ credit doesn’t matter (those loans are made to you, the student).</p>