Strategy for Financial Aid meeting

blossom
Fri, 09 Feb 2018 00:13:23 +0000

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?