Negotiate for better scholarships

emeraldkity4
Sun, 13 Jan 2008 00:41:44 +0000

Im not sure what you mean by* negotiate*.

If you are applying to say- two comparable schools that meet 100% of need & one school gives you a grant of $10,000 with $15,000 in loans and workstudy & the other schools package consists of a $20,000 grant with $5,000 in subsidized loans-and the first school is your first choice- you could ask if they could help you keep your loans down for the 4 years.

Or if one schools own financial aid forms revaluate your EFC to increase it by $10,000, you could ask for clarification . Generally if you are getting different packages from similar schools, it could be that one school you fill a needed niche & at the other school it is already filled. ( both package meet 100% of need- just in different ways)
We have double checked that the school was taking into account unusual expenses, but unless the school has made a mistake ( which does happen), it likely is not going to be adjusted.

If you are not talking about need based aid- but merit- that would depend obviously on the school and their ability to scrape up extra money.
Be warned however- that even without asking, some schools offer merit based awards to freshmen, that are non renewing.
IMO, if the school is going to offer a $20,000 award freshman year- but for the next three years it will be $2,000, I want to know up front.