Hello again CC. I’m not giving up yet on my top choice school, even though my current COA is out of budget. I was able to schedule a 15 minute meeting with an FA department member at said school on a day that I’ll be visiting.
My plan so far is to bring along two additional letters of recommendation from teachers who weren’t on my common app. I hope that this might push them toward giving me more merit aid. Is there anything else I should prepare, whether verbally or on paper?
If you are talking to FA people, LORs are irrelevant, unless you have any supporting documentation about challenging the FA offer, I would say you are wasting their time. You need to provide information that would be different from what you had in your FA application. WHy should they give you more money? Because your letters are nice? That isn’t how it works. If you are appealing for more merit, make sure you are talking to the right people.
If you are appealing for more merit, make sure you are talking to the right people.
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If not FA, who would be the “right people” to discuss this with? Or are you saying that unless my financial situation has drastically changed I shouldn’t bother, period?
At my kids’ colleges…merit aid was awarded through admissions.
Need based aid was awarded by the financial aid department. YMMV.
TBH, I seriously doubt additional letters of reference will net you more MERIT aid.
It isn't even clear that you know what you are asking for.
Merit aid is usually handled by admissions. I really do not think 2 recommendation letters are going to do anything for you in a financial aid meeting. You have already received their top scholarship.
Unless your financial situation has changed since you applied and you are brining documents that speak to the change in your fiancial situation, you really have nothing to talk to financial aid about. I would recommend speaking with your regional admissions rep. Good luck, i hope something can work out for you.
Did you get any need based aid in addition to the merit award?
If you believe FA didn’t consider relevant financial information when they made your package, then bring copies of relevant documents- medical costs not covered by insurance, speech therapy for a sibling with developmental delays, the cost of installing a ramp last month for a parent in a wheel chair. They are likely not going to care about gambling losses, consumer debt/credit card bills, etc.
If you believe that you are a stronger candidate for merit aid than your application indicated, then bring relevant documentation- a later sitting for the SAT with much higher scores, your January grades which showed an uptick in your GPA… and then bring along the letters as well.
But you need to know what you are asking for and why. Telling them “I need more money, you need to give it to me” is not a successful ask. Explaining “You have generously awarded me X but I don’t believe your formula takes into account the expenses our family has with a sibling with special needs- here is documentation of what we spend annually” is much more likely to get an increase.
And what kind of gap are you dealing with- $1K? 15K?
@sybbie719 I didn’t think about contacting my regional rep. Thanks for the tip.
@Sybylla I’m pretty much on my own in this process, so there’s a lot I don’t know about FA. I’m really just trying to talk my way into any more money that they’ll give me, seeing as I have nothing to lose.
@blossom I did get need based aid, but very little. The annual cost of attendance is 70K. They gave me 24 in merit and another 15 in need-based. I suspect this is because my mom’s husband makes a LOT of money, but he’s got 3 daughters of his own and is not going to pay anything toward my tuition. I live with my father, but all of my schools wanted mom’s info anyway. I guess the gap I am dealing with is about 15K, yeah. It’s a complete potshot but I would never forgive myself if I didn’t try.
As an FYI…do you think anyone brings LOR that are not very favorable? Additional glowing LOR will not help.
What could help is any honors you received, any special awards, an increased SAT or ACT score, all As on your mid year progress report.
But as @sybbie719 noted…you got their TOP merit award. Top means…it’s the highest they give.
@thumper1 There are sources I’ve seen that say many colleges have additional merit aid that they don’t give out at first. I was hoping to maybe get a cut of that. One of my letters has info about an honor I received that wasn’t on my application, but otherwise I’m kind of fumbling for ideas. Guess I’ll have to suffer through the meeting and learn my lesson.
Well…nothing ventured…nothing gained…
“There are sources I’ve seen that say many colleges have additional merit aid that they don’t give out at first.”
that may be saved for students who the college has accepted, who appeal their FA awards and show Merit awards from other peer colleges - AND who were not already awarded the the top merit award.
that is not the case with you.
@menloparkmom I have been awarded much better scholarships at other schools, but Emerson strictly does not take other schools’ offers into consideration.
^That happens at a lot of colleges. The FA office at the more “prestigious” or “higher ranked” college wont raise its FA / Merit/ what ever you want to call it award because “lesser” colleges offer you more.
Same thing happens to thousands of kids each year.
happened to our kid.
it’s the way it is. And always has been.
time to move on…
You need to come to terms with realistic options. Hopefully this meeting doesn’t cost you a lot of time or effort. In reality you are not poor and your stats are not high enough for great merit. You are the typical student, most of whom are not the rarefied type you think exists on CC. These students go to school instate, and commute to save money.
Separate the merit from the need. If it is merit aid you want, talk to admissions, bring your MERIT support as listed above like new scores, new awards or prizes, your letters of rec. Use your time with FA to talk about need.
I think you should get your stepfather to write a letter that says “I am Steve Stepfather. I am married to @englibsci18 's mother, but he does not live with us and I do not support him. I have three children from a prior marriage whose educations I am responsible for. That information does not come through in our financials because I am not the custodial parent for those three college students who go to Big State U, Super expensive LAC and , Superduper expensive Ivy. I am unable to contribute anything to @englibsci18 's costs, and his mother must pay 50% of our household expenses.”
Did you get any money for need except from the school like Pell, SEOG, state funds? If not, why not?
Sometimes schools can see reasons why the non-custodial stepparent just can’t pay. Don’t get your hopes up becaues $15k is a large amount for schools to make up at the end. I’ve seen $5k more, but that’s usually a stretch.
My advice is to tell your admissions officer that the school is your #1 choice, but that you can’t swing it. Let them know that you can’t attend with the current financial package. If they really want you and they actually do have aid tucked away somewhere going unused, they may give you more.
@kelsmom i will definitely stress how much i care for the school. Thanks!
@twoinanddone This is the first time anyone has suggested to have my stepfather write a letter. I think it could be extremely helpful. Thank you very much for the advice.